American Dream – Pinoy Nurse : There’s More!

Nurses who graduated from the last 4 years are mostly working in a call center, working as a “volunteer nurse”, ojt nurse or undergoing the unending expensive trainings on different hospitals in Metro Manila and in the provinces.

Living the American Dream of becoming a pinoy nurse in the states is mostly from our parents. Or if not from them directly, someone else must have influenced us in going to this path. May it be a relative or a friend (sponsor) who was willing to send us to school, it wouldn’t really matter at all at his point in time. Bum is the  most of the nurses have become. Since thousands of young nurses and more are expected to be one, let me site few good reasons why this path is still the right path.

In my previous post, I have pulled out how much is the current salary of the USRNs. Now, there’s more!

Top 3 Nursing Careers: Highest Paying Nursing Careers

Clinical Nurse Specialist : the average annual salary is $70,000 – 80,000 (Php 3.2 – 3.75 Million per year). Although it is so difficult to quote the actual average of a CNS as this specialty has a very broad scope.

A clinical nurse specialist is an advanced practice nurse who also assists with specialized research, education, advocacy, and sometimes management. In addition to being Registered Nurses, Clinical Nurse Specialists also hold a Master’s of Science degree in Nursing (MSN) and they have completed the additional CNS certification for their respective area of expertise.

NP – Nurse Practioner: the average annual income  is $81,723 (Php 3.8 Million per year). I have personally worked with NPs and true, they act as a physician. Yes, they do! They can diagnose (order diagnostic procedures), prescribe and treat patients.

A nurse practitioner is an advanced practice nurse who has more clinical independence and authority than many other types of nurses such as registered nurses (RN) or licensed vocational nurses (LVN).

Nurse practitioners can diagnose and treat patients much like physicians can, and they can bill health insurers for their office time and procedures, although at a lesser rate than physicians. Therefore, NPs are direct revenue producers for practices and hospitals, and as such, they have even more job security than other types of nurses, and can demand higher salaries. NPs allow a medical practice to treat more patients and become more efficient without adding a proportionate amount of overhead expense to the practice.

CRNA – Certified Nurse Anesthetist: With an average annual salary of $100,000 or more, CRNAs have one of the highest salaries among the nursing field (Php 4.5-4.7 Million per year).

CRNAs basically work as an extension of anesthesiologists, delivering anesthesia during surgery. Becoming a CRNA could be a great option for someone who has an interest in surgery or who has good technical skills and is less interested in patient interaction or ongoing patient rapport or continuity of care. As a CRNA, your patients are “out cold” for most of the time you’re with them. For more information on how to become a CRNA, see the CRNA career profile.