The “2012 Advanced Practice Clinician Compensation and Pay Practices Survey Report” a survey conducted by Sullivan, Cotter and Associates indicates that 2012 was a good year to be an NP or PA.
Key findings include:
NPs and PA job openings:
- A 17% increase in the number of Advanced Practice Clinicians positions was reported by 63% of the respondents
- In addition half the respondents plan to increase the number of NPs and PAs in their organizations by 15% during the coming year
- 62% indicated that NP and PA salaries increased by an average of 3.9% over the past year.
- At least half revealed they are planning salary increases of an average of 3.1% in 2013 for their Nurse Practitioners and Physician Assistants.
Reasons cited for the trends:
- Team based care driving the demand for more NPs and PAs
- MD shortage
- Recent national trends to ensure all medical professions can work at the top of their practice level and training.
While this is only one study it does confirm that the market is moving in a positive direction. This doesn’t mean we can relax just yet though, my contacts tell me that open positions are still attracting large numbers of applicants.