Pediatric Nurse Practitioner Essay

Words: 524
Pages: 3

There are approximately 106,000 nurse practitioners working in the United States with nearly half working in subspecialties such as pediatrics. Being a pediatric nurse practitioner has many advantages and disadvantages including having to endure vigorous training, having the ability to work in a variety of different workplaces, and having several difficult job duties, but with a decent salary to match their efforts.
In order to become a pediatric nurse practitioner, a person will have to go through various training and schooling. Most people choose to obtain a bachelor's degree in nursing and become a registered nurse by taking the National Council Licensure Exam for Registered Nurses. From there, some will work for any given amount of time
…show more content…
In these various settings, the job duties remain the same. Most pediatric nurse practitioners will have to assess and diagnose patients, prescribe medications, perform well-child check ups, treat illness, and perform physicals. Pediatric nurse practitioners are also required to be able to communicate with parents and their children, to be compassionate, and to keep themselves calm and orderly during stressful situations. However, the long hours and stress of this career do not go unrewarded. This According to “Becoming a Pediatric Nurse Practitioner: Job Description & Salary Info” by the writers at LearningPath.org, “The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS)... reported a salary range of approximately $69,000 (lowest 10%) to about $131,000 (highest 10%) for nurse practitioners. The most recent survey released by the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners in 2011 reported that full-time nurse practitioners (NP) working in pediatrics earned base annual salaries of almost $88,000, with a total income figure of about $92,000. The BLS projected that job opportunities in nursing were expected to grow by 34% between 2012 and 2022” (“Becoming a Pediatric Nurse Practitioner: Job Description & Salary Info”