by The duties of a Nurse Practitioner (NP) and Physician Assistant (PA) are very similar, despite differences in the labels.
Both NPs and PAs can prescribe medicaments, provide different forms of patient care, or run some diagnostic tests.
Therefore, you might ask – is the salary of NPs and PAs the same?
First, let’s talk about educational differences.
NPs and PAs must meet some educational standards.
Nursing practitioners must finish the advanced educational programs or course, while physician assistants go to medical schools.
Both educational pathways require money and time to gain the skills and knowledge, so the salary can be a determining factor which one to choose.
The data available by the Bureau of Labor and Statistics (BLS) shows that the average yearly salary of a nurse practitioner in 2018 was $140,000.
Translated to the hourly rate, it means that a nurse practitioner earned roughly $53 per hour that year.
The year before, the same data showed that a Physician Assitant hourly rate was $52, which on the annual plan is around $108,000.
There are differences in salaries based on state location.
For example, the highest paying states for nurse practitioners are Alaska, California, Hawaii, Massachusetts, and New York.
In these states, nurse practitioners salary was between $118,000 and $127,000.
Opposite, the states in which NPs have the lowest salaries are Alabama, Kentucky, Virginia, South Carolina, and Tennessee.
A nurse practitioner in these states earns on average $95,000 to $96,000.
When it comes to physician assistants, the top-paying states are Alaska, Connecticut, New Jersey, Nevada, and Washington.
A physician assistant working in one of these countries earn up to $119,000 to $126,000 per year.
The lowest annual salary of a physician assistant of $90,000 to $94,000 is recorded in Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Rhode Island, and Tennessee.
However, the salary can change due to other economic aspects. Therefore, you should consider the predictions for both NPs and PAs salaries.
For example, the BLS expects the 30% growth in the employment rate of physician assistants in the 2018-2028 time period.
The expected growth for nurse practitioners is lower, and it is 25%.
Both professions are perspective and there would be a higher demand for professionals due to several factors.
Therefore, both career options have a bright future and plenty of job opportunities in the future.
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