What would you do? Advice Needed

[EMEddie]

Hello Everyone-

I am asking for honest and sincere advice from you guys whom might have been in my dilema position. I am a new grad working in critical care. Before going into my nursing program [An ADN/ASN] I was attending a university major in Public Health; currently I only need 3 classes to complete this B.S. in Public Health. In terms of experience, I worked as an EMT prior to becoming an RN.

I am looking into my future and trying to see which of the following roads I would like to take. I would like to become a midlevel provider because of their big role in society and I love the clinical/disease process. I have looked into CRNA, but honestly I dont see myself in an OR all day being in the back of the patient controlling drips/sedation and such things; to me this would be very monotonous.

I am debating in either going into a Masters Program in PA or NP. I like how PAs follow a more disease process rather than so many nursing theory stuff and how it seems that as a PA you can virtually jump to any specialty ranging from family practice, to ER, to orthoepedics, to surgery, to ICU, to other medical subspecialties as compared to NPs whom are simply more known to do family medicine. I know of some NPs who do ER and ICU, but these are ACNP, rather than FNPs.

Its know that there is a lot PA residencies that further specialize you in an area as compared to NPs where the program basically trains you in a program, yet in the real world makes it much more difficult to jump specialties than PAs. I would like to do ER, ICU, but also Family Practice. I honestly love nursing, I have learned so much and there is much more I will be learning ,so this in now way is disrespect to the nursing progression.

The dilemma is if I should go back to school, finish my B.S. in Public Health and obtain a minor in Biology and then apply to PA school. Or, finish my B.S. in Public Health and also enrolled in a RN-BSN program? I know I can still apply to PA schools with a BSN degree, but I feel that if I take the extra "science' classes in the minor in Biology it would look better to the admission personnel.

I am very confused on what to do; I like PA for the reasons mentioned, but I understand that an NP can practice in the same role, except with the specialty jumping ability. I am not saying I will be jumping continously, but would hate to do FNP, start family practice and then 10 years later not being able to transition into lets say ICU or Rheumatology as easy as a PA could.

What could you advise me? Now that you have taken this path, what do you sincerely regret of being an NP/PA etc?

Thanks in advance.

[nickifnp]

It seems you've gotten a lot of opinions and advice, and I just wanted to add that I graduated with my FNP in December, and I got job offers at both a small primary care practice and in an ICU at a major top five hospital; these jobs couldn't be more different from each other (I took the ICU job). In the ICU where I am now working, 95% of the providers are NPs too, by the way. Providers are providers to some places, they don't necessarily look at the FNP vs. PA, just that you are qualified to do the job at hand. And it's nice to know that if I decide to scale back I can always go to a primary care practice with my degree. NPs have just as many options, trust me. Employers hire qualified people, end of story, regardless of the PA or NP behind your name. Though I will say, at the interview for the primary care provider position, the MD said he prefers NPs, so you may come across a job here or there that would rather hire one over the other, but that's personal preference, it has nothing to do with qualifications, and should not be a reason to pick one program over the other. As some of the others before me have said, stick with what you know, which in this case would be nursing.

[nursetim, NP]

I may have not put it well. I agree that the two programs are completely different. I was trying to get across that I wish we, as NPs, got the same medical model training. It would make our work smoother. That is what I was trying to say.

[crystalchen]

I totally agree! I am a new grad last year and during my 8 months working in long term care facilities as an NP, there is SO MUCH that they don't teach/never mentioned in NP school. I was a good student, graduated with honor, and several clinical rotation places wanted to hire me after my rotation. Then what, I really don't know much! I guess PA school will provide you more clinical knowledge and medication knowledge, and for NPs, we gotta learn from our experiences. Best luck!