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  1. What profession should I pursue?

    • 2
      PA
    • 0
      NP
    • 11
      Krusty Krab Fry Cook

13 members have participated

I hope I'm in the right place; I'm bad with forums.

So I'm pre-RN in college right now(doing pre-requisites) and I'm interested in being advanced practice. I know everyone says you should get experience before applying to a Graduate program, but I would rather just do advanced practice instead of being a floor nurse for years on end, getting experience. Most people tell me to go to PA school since this is more my fit but PA school is INSANELY expensive, compared to some of the NP programs around me. The only problem is, I don't know if I have a shot of getting in any of the NP programs without any experience. Is it possible? Or should I just pursue being a PA?

Thanks, JT.

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Specializes in OB-Gyn/Primary Care/Ambulatory Leadership.

You don't have to be a floor nurse for years on end. Many nurses work as an RN for a couple years before entering an NP program. I think the consensus is that most nurses do not think very highly of the skills and knowledge of NPs who don't have any clinical experience before entering advanced practice.

Here are a couple threads on direct entry NP degrees:

https://allnurses.com/general-nursing-student/direct-entry-msn-761311.html

https://allnurses.com/pre-nursing-student/direct-entry-np-894578.html

https://allnurses.com/pre-nursing-student/get-my-bsn-702578.html

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Specializes in Med/Surg, Ortho, ASC.

You want to be an Advanced Nurse Practitioner, but you can't be bothered with undergoing experience in your chosen profession?

Good luck with that.

But please. Do Nursing a favor and go be a PA.

Truly, folks like you are who give me the heebie jeebies about the future of nursing/medicine. I really wish you had a hankering for IT or teaching or mechanical engineering. Anything but patient care.

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So these same nurses don't think highly of PA's either? They start off doing the same thing NP's do, and do it just as well. I can't see why a PA would need experience, so why should an NP? Seems a bit trivial to argue.

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Thank you for your opinion.

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Specializes in Med/Surg, Ortho, ASC.

Your ID is correct. Obviously your life experience is lacking.

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I am in an RN program right now and am also interested in advanced practice. All of the ones I have looked in to require at least a year of RN experience; some of them requiring 2-3. Seeing as it will take me this long to get my bachelors as I'm working as a nurse, this works out perfectly!

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Specializes in OB-Gyn/Primary Care/Ambulatory Leadership.
So these same nurses don't think highly of PA's either? They start off doing the same thing NP's do, and do it just as well. I can't see why a PA would need experience, so why should an NP? Seems a bit trivial to argue.

Well, in most states, NPs can be LIPs. PAs cannot. Therefore, with NPs, there is a higher level of autonomy.

Also, I think most PA programs have a greater length of time spent in clinical rotations, compared to NP programs. Most PA programs have an entire 12 months, 40 hours/week, for clinicals. NP programs generally don't have nearly that amount of time in clinical (usually it's around 650 to 1000 if it's a DNP program). So most NP programs have about 1/2 the clinical time, and have greater autonomy as a practitioner. That's why I think direct-entry NPs are generally way less prepared for advanced practice than those who spent at least a few years working as an RN. I think NP programs should require a minimum number of years working as an RN before admission (similar to CRNA programs, which require at least a year in the ICU).

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Your ID is correct. Obviously your life experience is lacking.

As the OP stated, she doesn't have experience: she's pre nursing. That's why she's asking questions on here. It isn't uncommon to want to go straight toward your goal. If she knows what her end goal is, why shouldn't she want to go straight for that. It makes sense in an inexperienced person's mind. That's why we pre nursing folks love this forum: we can get good advice from experienced professionals. So please, keep it professional without degrading the OP for a simple question.

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Thank you and I'm a guy. I'm just looking for advice. :p

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Specializes in OB-Gyn/Primary Care/Ambulatory Leadership.

I assumed the OP was a male.

Ah, I see I was correct. I can usually tell by the tone and wording of their posts.

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Thank you, I can appreciate that.

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