Considering a career change from Pharmacist to Nurse (and eventually NP.. hopefully)

[thisaintnoregularhcp]

Hey everyone - just looking to gather some of your valued thoughts and opinions.

I'm a Canadian pharmacist who has been working in retail pharmacy for about 4 years at the management level. I feel like I'm getting very bored with my job due to the repetition and lack of ability to make meaningful changes in patients' lives (especially when you're owned by corporate and "script count" is all that matters). In addition, I have this thirst for knowledge that is not satisfying me by working in a retail pharmacy. There's so much to know but I feel like I'm rotting away just working my retail 9-5 job.

I'm wondering if I should apply to a 2-year accelerated BSN degree, work for 2-3 years in a high acuity ward and then apply for a Masters (nurse practitioner). What appeals to me about being a family nurse practitioner is the ability to physically assess your patients and have a deep understanding of their medical history. In addition, I really admire the level of autonomy and responsibility of this profession. I currently work alongside several NPs as the retail pharmacy I work at is next to a primary care clinic.

I do have a couple concerns though:

Being an RN and NP seem so different.. I'm not sure if I would like the bedside part of being an RN, however, I think I would enjoy an area such as the ER or ICU because there's so much to learn, do, and see.

Cost: I don't have much savings, I can work on weekends as a pharmacist though to help cover the cost of tuition/living expenses. I would obviously be taking a pay cut from my current salary of ~100k (just finished paying off student loans for 6 years of school).

Age: I am almost 30 years old. That means at the earliest I would be an NP at 36 years old.

Difficulty of getting into a masters program - what kind of grades do I need?

Other considerations were to:

Apply to medicine (low chance - GPA is about 80%, decent extracurriculars though, can consider applying after completing BSN to bump GPA up?)

Consider a 2-year comp sci degree (I am interested in computers and have been as a child but have always avoided this path as I didn't want to turn my "fun/interest" into "work".)

Do a pharmacy residency or graduate Doctor of Pharmacy degree

Get out of school altogether and do a trade or become a police officer (both something I'm interested in.)

Has anyone done this or know of anyone who has done this? I haven't made the jump or applied yet but I am strongly considering. Am I just having an early mid-life crisis?

Thanks for reading!

tl;Dr - want to quit job as pharmacist and become NP, looking for insight

[guest874748]

On 7/8/2020 at 1:00 AM, Elaine M said:

Your concern for med school is your grades but they (and your pharm experience) might get you into a foreign med school in the Caribbean. A friend went many many years ago to one in the Dominican Republic, she easily got a US residency slot and is a pediatrician now.

Yeah I was going to say, even in my program at AUC (er, wasn't successful for me) there was a couple of nurses that were able to opt out of classes they had already taken and a chiropractor that did the same. I don't know much about pharmacy programs (if they're like dentist, optometry, medicine- where everyone does the same kind of first couple years), but I'm for sure you could at least get out of the Pharmacology class LOL, probably others too.

Honestly though, Pharmacy is a great field!! I'd love to be a pharmacist except my Chemistry is so weak, I don't think I could make it through

[thisaintnoregularhcp]

It sounds like there are so many nuances between pharmacy/nursing in the US versus Canada.

Is anyone here a Canadian by any chance?I'd like to hear input from a Canadian RN/NP as the field seems pretty different.

[advsmuch08]

My friend did a 1 year residency in ambulatory medicine after she completed pharmacy school. She works in a large primary care office, working mainly with chronic disease management patients. She works one-on-one with patients educating them the disease processes, medications, regimens, lifestyle changes, etc. She does appointments with patients both in-office and virtual. I’m uncertain of the technical part, but if she is consulted, she can adjust the patients’ medications. Usually she does this for the hypertension and diabetic patients. She seems to be happy and enjoy getting to know her patients over time. Just a thought for you...

[Rnis, BSN, DNP, APRN, NP]

On 7/6/2020 at 11:47 PM, thisaintnoregularhcp said:

Hey everyone - just looking to gather some of your valued thoughts and opinions.

I'm a Canadian pharmacist who has been working in retail pharmacy for about 4 years at the management level. I feel like I'm getting very bored with my job due to the repetition and lack of ability to make meaningful changes in patients' lives (especially when you're owned by corporate and "script count" is all that matters). In addition, I have this thirst for knowledge that is not satisfying me by working in a retail pharmacy. There's so much to know but I feel like I'm rotting away just working my retail 9-5 job.

I'm wondering if I should apply to a 2-year accelerated BSN degree, work for 2-3 years in a high acuity ward and then apply for a Masters (nurse practitioner). What appeals to me about being a family nurse practitioner is the ability to physically assess your patients and have a deep understanding of their medical history. In addition, I really admire the level of autonomy and responsibility of this profession. I currently work alongside several NPs as the retail pharmacy I work at is next to a primary care clinic.

I do have a couple concerns though:

Being an RN and NP seem so different.. I'm not sure if I would like the bedside part of being an RN, however, I think I would enjoy an area such as the ER or ICU because there's so much to learn, do, and see.

Cost: I don't have much savings, I can work on weekends as a pharmacist though to help cover the cost of tuition/living expenses. I would obviously be taking a pay cut from my current salary of ~100k (just finished paying off student loans for 6 years of school).

Age: I am almost 30 years old. That means at the earliest I would be an NP at 36 years old.

Difficulty of getting into a masters program - what kind of grades do I need?

Other considerations were to:

Apply to medicine (low chance - GPA is about 80%, decent extracurriculars though, can consider applying after completing BSN to bump GPA up?)

Consider a 2-year comp sci degree (I am interested in computers and have been as a child but have always avoided this path as I didn't want to turn my "fun/interest" into "work".)

Do a pharmacy residency or graduate Doctor of Pharmacy degree

Get out of school altogether and do a trade or become a police officer (both something I'm interested in.)

Has anyone done this or know of anyone who has done this? I haven't made the jump or applied yet but I am strongly considering. Am I just having an early mid-life crisis?

Thanks for reading!

tl;Dr - want to quit job as pharmacist and become NP, looking for insight

Go with your gut and dreams, but why not move into a clinical pharmacy role first. (retail pharmacy sounds AWFUL) That would definitely get you a more variety and ability to use your great knowledge.

[LibraNurse27, BSN, RN]

I was also wondering what you thought about doing inpatient pharmacy. They seem busy to me and are so helpful with compounding drugs and answering our clinical questions. They also come up to interview patients and educate on discharge meds. They have to verify every med ordered, check compatibilities, etc. Maybe it would be more exciting!

[Briana Mucklow Juskowiak]

It sounds like you are the type who craves action. I can tell you the type of clinics you are using as a reference doesn't give you the full scope of potential that NP's can serve. NP's can function in many different roles. I am partial to ICU.

[JEE93, BSN, RN]

I used to work as a medical scribe in a level 1 trauma center and we had clinical pharmacists who worked in the ER. They were there for docs to bounce ideas off of and would give advice about which med/dose was most appropriate for whatever they were treating. They would also respond to codes and pull up meds, prepare meds/drips, offer suggestions. I never knew pharmacists could act in such a role and thought it was so cool! I think you might have to do a 1-2 year pharmacy residency though, not exactly sure. But you could look into it!

[LovingLife123]

I would think you would like inpatient pharmacy. Our pharmacists do a lot with assessing patient needs. They found with the doctors and nurses. I’m constantly collaborating with our unit pharmacist.

I know what retail pharmacy is about. I worked it for several years and yes, it’s all about the script count. But leaving the high paying world of pharmacy to be a nurse, sounds kind of crazy to me. Especially when I think you can get what you desire by working inpatient.

[Swellz]

I worked in a retail pharmacy as a tech for 6.5 years. I am very sympathetic to the fact that it isn't for you! I echo the others suggesting an inpatient position. Depending on where you work you can really specialize. As part of my initial training on my floor, I went through chemo training with the chemo pharmacists; if education is of any interest to you, that's one thought. I also worked at a hospital where pharmacists did all the discharge teaching related to meds, so they got to really interact with patients. The floor I currently work on is a cardiac surgery unit, and we have a dedicated pharmacist the CT surgery team really relies on.

I just feel like there are some unexplored options that wouldn't require going back to school, if you're not 100% on being an MD/NP, of course.