Need career advice!

[Do_Something]

Maybe the wrong place for this question, but I need help!

I am a former PA student who is thinking of applying to RN or NP school. I was supposed to graduate in a month, but missed my last exam by 3 questions; dumb mistakes! I'm chalking it up to test anxiety because I knew all the information after reviewing the exam (it was emergency med if anyone is curious.) I'm currently active duty, so luckily I don't have student loans, but I have to serve another 3 years before I can get out of the military.

Through out my schooling, patient focused care just vibed more to me than the illness-recognition-and-treatment philosophy that the medical model focused on. So now I'm at a cross roads: I can either reapply to a PA school when I'm done with my enlistment, or I can start working on the nursing school over nights and weekends now and be better prepared when I do get out. I currently have a bachelors of science which I think may help with the NP route, or at least likely give me the basic gen-ed if I start with the RN route.

I loved patient care (despite some of the working environments), so I know I'm going to rock whatever it is I do, so I'm not worried about the motivation, I'm just not sure which direction to go. Advice? Thoughts? Recommendations? Thanks in advance to everyone's input and guidance.

[OldDude]

First of all...thank you for your service for our country! Home of the free because of the brave, like you.

Stick with PA. You can always pick an area where you have more hands on if you want to.

Good Luck!!

[JKL33]

There is no remedy for someone about to graduate PA school who fails one exam? Such that they just have to start over or find something else to do with their life?

[Do_Something]

More background: of the roughly 125 exams over the whole educational pipe-line, I failed a total of 4. The rule is you get one chance at a re-test, fail it then they give you one chance to roll back in to the class behind you.

I had already been rolled because of two pediatric failures (for which I ace'd the test when I retook the rotation). Sadly the tests for emed were supper tricky and I just fell for all the distractors (again, hindsight I knew the answer they wanted me pick... ce la vie) on both exams.

25 minutes ago, OldDude said:

First of all...thank you for your service for our country! Home of the free because of the brave, like you.

Stick with PA. You can always pick an area where you have more hands on if you want to.

Good Luck!!

Thanks for the support! When I wore a younger man's uniform I didn't understand the sacrifice, but now with wife and daughter in tow your support means a lot more. ?

What do you mean pick an area with more hands on? For either NP/RN or PA, I'm going to have to do rotations again, I just feel like I'm much more prepared given my background. I guess what I don't know is how NP/RN would be different. Thoughts?

[OldDude]

2 minutes ago, Do_Something said:

What do you mean pick an area with more hands on? For either NP/RN or PA, I'm going to have to do rotations again, I just feel like I'm much more prepared given my background. I guess what I don't know is how NP/RN would be different. Thoughts?

It's my opinion the NP and PA role would be similar. If you were in a hospital or facility based accordingly with patient care you would be directing patient care versus a RN, where you would administer direct patient care.

You had mentioned you vibed more with patient care than the illness recognition and treatment environment, like an office visit, so if you chose to work in an ER or Urgent Care or similar facility you would have a more hands on experience working as a PA than you would writing scripts in an office.

[Do_Something]

5 minutes ago, OldDude said:

if you chose to work in an ER or Urgent Care or similar facility you would have a more hands on experience working as a PA than you would writing scripts in an office.

That makes sense, thanks for clarifying that for me. I will admit family practice scares me... haha! Over the last 4 months, I've been doing FP/sick call, 14-20 patients a day and it was grueling, but rewarding. ER would definitely be more hands-on/procedures.

I would probably be easier to just finish PA school, I guess I'm worried the next 3 years of military service will degrade some of my clinical knowledge. Where as if I have a nursing focus, it will give me something to be taking night classes for and keep me active. I also think NP's have it a little better than PA's given their ability to practice independently, though I haven't yet had a chance to it down face-to-face with an NP to see what they're perspective is.