Can a registered nurse (BSN) apply to PA school?

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Is it recommended to have a nursing major while intending to go to PA school? Will I have a strong foundation for becoming a PA?

I know a nurse practitioner required a year or more of work as an RN before getting a MSN and I'm currently under the impression that PA school allows you to enter right after undergrad.

If anyone can clarify, that would be great!

Thanks!

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It will depend of the school, but to my knowledge none of them require you to have a year of patient care. Most of them are thrilled if you are already working with patients because many students applying have barely any direct pt care experience. I am a newly graduated BSN and I'm planning on applying to PA school this summer :) good luck!!

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I heard the difference is that a nursing major teaches you in the nursing model while PA uses the medical model.

I am worried that it will create some conflict in transitioning from RN to PA..

Good luck in your applications! :D

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Recommended? Not that I've heard. Accepted? Sure. PA programs I've seen have a patient care requirement, and NP programs I've seen allow you to get your work experience while starting coursework. Look at both and decide which is a better fit for you and how you hope to practice.

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I heard the difference is that a nursing major teaches you in the nursing model while PA uses the medical model.

I am worried that it will create some conflict in transitioning from RN to PA..

Good luck in your applications! :D

It is a medical model, but the overall sciences and clinical hours beat the band in terms of preparation compared with NP hours IMHO. The big benefit of NPs used to be that they came from a good many years of clinical practice in highly acute areas as compared with a number of PAs. I don't think that is so much the case anymore, b/c people do undergrad in nursing and then move directly into masters programs for nursing. People move straight into MSN programs for NP or CRNA with comparatively little clinical experience--haven't been it clinical nursing long enough to become even the next step up from novice, much less expert. Personally, I don't think NP and CRNA programs should except relatively new nursing grads. Let them first get strong clinical experience under their belts in some ICUs or EDs or the like. By strong, I mean at least five years of full-time experience in acute/critical care. The clinical experience, particularly if it is acute or critical, good quality, and continuous, makes all the difference in terms of clinical judgment and practice IMHO. So, to me, if a person isn't willing to invest time in clinical development as a RN, then I think the patients and the practitioner are better off if the new nurse goes into an excellent PA program. Also, in terms of ED, I hear that PAs dominate as compared with NPs in ED.

To the original poster, do your research on some good programs, and good luck to you.

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Specializes in Critical Care, Education.

Be sure to do your homework and investigate the career limitations/expectations for NP vs PA. In Tx (as in most states) NPs have a fairly autonomous scope of practice but PAs must always work for (and be directly supervised by) a physician.

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Error: wrote except when it should be accept. I'd like to blame Dragon dictation software, but I can't. :)

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Check out the school requirements. I know most schools have a set of pre-req classes you have to take (usually with a C or higher and at least a 3.0 gpa) in order to be considered. You also must possess a 4 year degree (could be anything really as long as you meet the pre-req classes). You might need to take a few additional classes that arent covered in the nursing programs of most schools.

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