Family Nurse Practitioner Salary: How Much Can I Expect To Make?

• Home Healthcare Services: Home care FNPs focus primarily on preventive or palliative care. They commonly work with elderly patients, patients with disabilities or chronic illnesses and patients recovering from surgery. The best home care providers are FNPs that are both highly organized and nimble problem solvers, as treating complex medical issues inside someone’s home requires more flexibility than a standardized hospital environment.
• Outpatient Care Centers: Outpatient care relates to any healthcare procedure, treatment or other service that is conducted without an overnight stay in the hospital. FNPs who work in outpatient care centers may have a range of responsibilities, including conducting check-ups, treating illnesses, ordering lab tests and prescribing medication for children and adults. One of the most common types of outpatient care is urgent care, which relies heavily on FNPs to fill the gap when patients can’t be seen by a primary care physician or have an illness or injury that is beyond the primary scope of care. 
• General Medical and Surgical Hospitals: FNPs work across many hospital departments, including emergency, critical and trauma care among others. FNPs who work with inpatient populations help provide high-quality, consistent care as well as interface with family members to relay treatment plans. Working in a hospital can be a valuable step in a career as an FNP as it helps individuals gain exposure to a wide variety of conditions and patient populations. 
• Offices of Physicians: Acting as a primary care provider in a physician’s office is one of the most common career paths for FNPs. In some states, FNPs are able to practice independently, and may even own their own practice, while in other states they must be supervised by a doctor. FNPs choose primary care because they want to build strong relationships with patients and provide care for individuals and families over the course of their lives.
   

Get a FREE guide to help you advance your career, featuring helpful advice and thoughtful insights from nursing experts.

Where Do Family Nurse Practitioners Get Paid the Most? A State-by-State Comparison

Another major factor when considering salary is the state in which an FNP decides to practice. Large, populous states tend to have higher salaries. However, these states also often have higher costs of living, so keep that in mind when comparing salaries across states. 

In some states, FNPs have full practice authority. This means that FNPs can prescribe, diagnose, and treat patients without physician oversight. This may also offer the opportunity for higher salaries. Nurse practitioners who operate in full-practice states can establish and operate their own independent practices, which can offer a path to entrepreneurship and higher earnings.