I was all set to head towards NP now a dr told me PA. Hmmm

elkpark · Jun 23, 2010

There are a bunch of older "NP vs. PA" threads here, if you want to read what's already been discussed.

creativetype2007 · Jun 23, 2010

I know there are and I appreciate you letting me know that. Sometimes it is nice to hear new perspectives instead of reading some posts from 2008. And yes, I know there are newer ones.

ANnot4me · Jun 23, 2010

To me the title alone says it all NP vs PA. Times are changing and nursing has come into its own. An NP has independence in most places now whereas a PA is exactly that. Good luckk

j621d · Jun 23, 2010

I agree with Chigap, that NPs are more autonomous than a PA. As a NP, you can continue on for a doctorate, but as a PA, I think it is a terminal degree (please correct me on this).

I truly believe you will have more options as a NP.

PedsAtHeart, LPN · Jun 23, 2010

I have a couple of PA's that I know from working with them and they say if they had it to do over they would have done NP instead. I agree with chigap.

nursinadream · Jun 23, 2010

Here's a thought: A NP could be in competition with a physician, while a PA is not. The AMA is not in favor of increased or even the current autonomy and status of NP.

I have worked in hospitals for 35 years - in 2 states and have never worked with a NP, I have worked with many PAs.

Deb

geekgolightly, BSN, RN · Jun 23, 2010

I don't know if there is an excellent PA school near your area and a less then excellent NP school, which can sway opinion, but if it is not that, there might be a personal bias against NP from this doc.

Physicians recently have been really riled up about NP's expanding their role. They are defending their territory. So please, take what he says with a grain of salt.

At the same time, investigate the schools you are interested in because the quality of education varies from school to school.

GilaRRT · Jun 23, 2010

The physician has a point guys. This thread is not asking about the typical NP autonomy bloviation, perhaps we can put that to the side for a moment? Comparing typical curricula, the PA in most cases will have much more in the way of "hard" science background and education. As somebody who appreciates this kind of background, I see the physicians point.

sweetER · Jun 23, 2010

I work in a family practice office right now while I'm still in school, and one of our doctors' mom is an NP, and while he might be biased due to that, he says he'd rather have an NP than a PA because (most of the time) NPs have been RNs for a little while, and they have had so much more in-depth hands-on patient care experience to guide them as an NP, which makes sense to me. I'm sure there are RNs who choose to do PA, so they have more experience than other PAs, but most PA schools require a certain amount of hours working in a patient care field or "voulnteer experience" (at least the ones near me), which might just be as a PCT or MA- which are valuable experiences, but not quite as thorough as what an RN would get.

llg, PhD, RN · Jun 23, 2010

I see in your original post that you say you want to work in a hospital. If that's the case, perhaps you should reconsider a lot of things. Neither NP's nor PA's work mostly in hospitals. (though some do). Most NP's and most PA's work in outpatient settings -- clinical settings where they see X number of patients per day coming in for brief appointments for either a quick check of their chronic condition or to be seen for an acute ailment or injury. Is that really the type of work you want to do? ... Or would you rather work with hospitalized patients?

I find that a lot of people new to health care (e.g. nursing students and new grad nurses) haven't really thought through all the issues related to the types of roles and career paths out there. They make decisions based on what "sounds good when someone says it" rather than on a serious consideration of the type of work that a particular job involves.

What type of work do you really want to do? What do you want your place in the health care system to be? What type of professional relationship do you want to have with the physicians in your work environment? (their colleague in another discipline? their assistant? etc.) Do you want to assess and treat patients from a nursing perspective? ... or from a physician's perspective? These are things you need to know before you can make a good informed decision for yourself.

I applaud you for asking your questions and wish you well as you try to figure out where you would like to go with your career.

PedsAtHeart, LPN · Jun 23, 2010

Also, look at the job market in your area and see what is in higher demand. Some areas may employee more PA's than NP's and vice versa...