There are certainly ups and downs in the nurse practitioner career. From difficult patients to dealing with bodily fluids and administrative snafus (maybe even all in the same day), there’s a reason they call it ‘work’. Despite these challenges, I truly enjoy my life as an NP. I’m constantly learning, intellectually stimulated, respect my colleagues, and have avoided having a desk job – something my active self couldn’t handle. Not to mention, I earn a pretty substantial salary. It turns out that there are others who think like myself and see that nurse practitioners and physician assistants have a pretty good gig.
This week, U.S. News unveiled its annual list of 100 Best Jobs. Physician assistant was ranked as the third best job and nurse practitioner the fourth best job in the country on the list. How did NPs and PAs get recognized as one of the top five careers in the nation?
‘Best job’ is a pretty subjective distinction. So, U.S News defined the designation a bit to create their rankings. Taking into account salary, employment rate, 10-year growth volume, 10-year growth percentage, stress level and work-life balance, the publisher scored career paths. Here’s how the NP and PA professions ranked on these metrics:
With high median salaries and a favorable job market outlook, the nurse practitioner and physician assistant careers fell behind only software developers and dentists in this year’s career rankings.
Do you agree with U.S. News’ ranking of the NP and PA professions? Has your experience working in one of these careers supported the positive assessment?