We know that job interviews for nurse practitioner (NP) or physician assistant (PA) positions can be nerve-wracking. How is your PA or NP interview etiquette? Everyone wants to make a good impression, yet sometimes little habits can chip away at an otherwise professional image. If you're an advanced practice healthcare provider, your people skills are probably top-notch. Your patients and colleagues count on you to bring your best self to the job each day.
Evaluating APRNs and PAs salary, benefits, and total compensation is key when considering a job offer or negotiating salary. We at DirectShifts are here to help Advanced Practice Providers (APPs) and their employers understand how to evaluate salaries and compensation. APPs, including Advanced Practice Registered Nurses (APRNs) and Physician's Assistants (PAs), salaries comprise a multitude of criteria, including years of experience, specialty, schedule, location, and equity between providers.
New Graduate Advanced Practice Providers (APPs, including CNS, CRNAs, NPs, PAs and other APRNs) require a transitional orientation into practice upon graduation. Careful planning by the employer before a new graduate APP begins can help ensure a successful transition. Those who do not have a formal orientation often report feeling unsafe or not properly trained for their role. As a result, many opt to return to their RN role while searching for a new APP role that will appropriately support them in the transition to practice process.
As an Advanced Practice Registered Nurse (APRN) or Physician Assistant (PA), you work hard. You have a job where you can have a positive impact on the lives of others, and are paid well for it. But to get the most out of your career you have to learn how to create a vision for your life! A vision for a meaningful life is built on core values and principles. Setting a vision for your life now can lead to long term satisfaction. It is what will allow you to look back in 1, 5, 10 years and beyond, and understand how you lived and why a life lived through good and bad times, successes and failures, in a meaningful way, without regrets.
Advanced Practice Providers (APPs, including APRNs and PAs) have difficult, yet rewarding jobs, and deserve to be paid well for their work. The more you know about the salary structure, the better your ability to discuss alternatives. The cost of turnover for an employer is 2.5x the cost of compensation, so it is worthwhile for employers to pay APPs well. To ask for incentive pay, APRNs and PAs need to start by gathering information.
Take care of yourself, avoid APP job stress, and find satisfaction to improve the care you give patients. Healthcare professionals are susceptible to feeling overworked and emotionally drained. As an Advanced Practice Provider (APP), you've likely experienced challenging patient-to-nurse ratios, exhausting 12+ hour shifts, and being overwhelmed by the needs of critically ill patients. Left unresolved, physical and emotional stress can lead to lower job performance and decreased job satisfaction. Do you feel like you've given all you have?
