Are you thinking about becoming a nurse practitioner? It’s a good time to consider the nurse practitioner profession. The nurse practitioner career was ranked # 2 in The top 100 Best Jobs in U.S. News and World Reports, only behind dentists at #1.

This is a profession that requires love for helping others since there is a significant amount of schooling involved. Nurse practitioners are also known as Advance Practice Registered Nurses (APRNs) since they have additional education aside from registered nursing. As a nurse practitioner you are the decision-maker for the health and well-being of your patients. No longer are you taking and carrying out orders, you are now the one giving orders and have the responsibility that goes along with it.

Aside from loving the work of taking care of other people, realistically your work should be able to provide a comfortable living for you and your family. According to recent statistics, nurse practitioner’s command a pretty good salary.

The median salary for a nurse practitioner in 2015 is around $98,000. The average annual salary is around $101,000. Compared to other jobs on the best jobs list the nurse practitioner’s salary is at a very comfortable level. A licensed practical or vocational nurse earns roughly $44,000 annually while a registered nurse is around $71,000.

The news gets better each year for nurse practitioner salaries. In a survey of 1,000 nurse practitioners taken in 2016, half of them said that they had a 12% increase in salary at a rate of around 8% or higher. This increases the nurse practitioner’s salary range from $101,000 to $125,000. Of course, the practice setting also plays a factor since those in certain specialties (Emergency Room, Urgent Care, Hospital, etc) earn higher salaries than those who work in Family Practice.

Most companies now offer signing bonuses for newly hired nurse practitioners which can be an added perk for those who want to continue their education and become nurse practitioner. The average signing bonus is $11,000. This could be a response of needing more health care providers since there is a shortage of physicians, hence the increase in demand for nurse practitioners and physician assistants as well.

Nurse practitioners are well sought-after in the medical industry, thus it is prudent to make sure they are well compensated and taken care of while they care for patients.

Do you have what it takes to be a nurse practitioner?

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