Much has happened since the last time I posted the November Update. We moved out of our apartment of three years into a temporary basement apartment with friends while I was searching for a nurse practitioner job. Then the holidays happened meanwhile the job search continued at a frustratingly slow pace. Thankfully I was still working almost full-time as a per diem RN the entire time, so the elusive nurse practitioner job search did not hinder our plans for FIRE in the least bit.
Elusive New Nurse Practitioner Job
We agreed to only stay with our friends for 6 months max. By the time month five rolled around, I didn’t have any leads on a potential job. Finding a nurse practitioner job without any nurse practitioner experience is difficult. They don’t tell you this in grad school.
I was preparing to settle more long term into my RN career and find a place to rent close by the hospital. As I mentioned, we were both working full-time hours, and I was making pretty good money as a per diem RN. We’re definitely smashing our financial goals. Despite this, we still wanted to finally find a more permanent job as a nurse practitioner. That’s what I went to grad school for and wanted to do.
Finally, an Interview
At the end of month five in my nurse practitioner job search, I finally got an interview with a company I never thought I would get a call back from. Funny thing is that I lined up 3 interviews that same week! Life seems to bring things in waves for some reason.
We Like You and Good Luck!
The 1st interview was with the hospital I worked as a RN. This turned out to be a complete bust as the recruiter told me that they appreciated my loyalty to the hospital, but they didn’t have a position for me. In fact, the recruiter told me that they had a couple of candidates with a lot of NP experience, so good luck and contact them in a couple of years when I get my experience. Thank you for the non-interview!
We’re Gonna Recommend You!
The 2nd interview that week was with another medical group in the area. It was just the recruiter telling me she was going to recommend me to the hiring manager for an actual interview. I’m still waiting to hear back from the hiring manager as of mid-May 2019.
We Want to Hire You!
The 3rd interview was with a new company in the area. I didn’t necessarily have the job experience they were looking for, but they wanted to talk to me anyways. After about 5 different interviews with them I got a job offer!
Let’s Go to Hawaii
Before I got the job offer though, my wife and I booked a trip to Hawaii at the end of March. We figured we couldn’t keep our lives on hold just because we didn’t know what was happening next. Everything seemed to fall into place! I got a job offer shortly after we booked our trip to Hawaii. I started a new job as a nurse practitioner April 1st. It has been a whirlwind since then and a totally new and different experience from when I was practicing as a RN in the hospital.
Transitioning from Nurse to Nurse Practitioner
I’ve always practiced as a RN in the hospital setting, but now I’m in a more clinic type setting as a main provider. It’s crazy and scary that now I’m the one giving the orders to the nurses. It’s such a totally different setting from where I was before that I don’t really feel that connection to the type of nursing the RNs do at my current workplace. I’m also so much more busy than I ever was as an RN although I think the RNs I work with are just as busy if not more than me. Granted I did have a nice RN job area that had many spurts of busyness, but there were always breaks.
Hourly to Salary
I also am now paid a salary which is so strange. I would probably be making more as an RN for the amount of hours I now work. I used to work about 36 hours as a RN, but now I work about 50 hours a week plus some call. I’m hoping as I get more experience to reduce the amount of hours I work.
Increased Job Satisfaction
I figure though that I’m doing this not so much for the money but for the increased job satisfaction. I’ve already had patients tell me how much of a difference I’ve made in their lives. It’s really great to know that some of the medical decisions I’ve made have directly impacted someone’s life for better.
Nurse Practitioner Journey towards FI
So what’s next? We have begun our first official year of our journey towards FIRE. I’m hoping it will take only 10 years, but realistically we will probably take 15 years. I’m hoping to post more regularly as I get settled into a more normal rhythm.
I have huge aspirations for paying off my student loans, so I hope to write about that journey. I would also like to post about my struggles with lifestyle inflation, a wealth-building killer. I would like to write about my experiences choosing and going to NP school as well as finding that first NP job. What would you all like to hear about?