NP or PA-in the ER?

[nadia96]

I'm only in my first yr of college, taking a couple of prereqs for a BSN. For the longest time, I've planned on going on to become an NP.

But my main reason of choosing NP was that I would get to diagnose. But I recently read that PAs can do the same?

My question is: IS IT HARDER TO GET A JOB WORKING IN THE ER AS A NP or PA?

to be clear: is it an exception for a np to be working in the ER.

I dont see myself working in any specialty but emergency medicine.

[Dranger]

PAs are much more common in the ED anywhere you go. ED and ortho/surgery are very PA heavy

[traumaRUs, MSN, APRN]

Moved to Student NP forum.

Also, in my area, NPs are in the majority so NPs and CNS's dominate our ER scene. However, it does vary

[Jules A, MSN]

In my area PAs are more prevalent both on hospital floors and also in the EDs.

[Corey Narry, MSN, RN, NP]

Bottomline is you need to research the area you live in and see how employment patterns go. I lived in the Midwest at one time and while I was in school, there were certainly more PA's than NP's in the area ED's. That gradually changed over time and I had classmates who were able to get jobs in ED's. There are still pockets that prefer PA's there. Where I currently live now, you see equal numbers of NP's and PA's in the ED's.

The other consideration you should look at is that if you're just entering nursing now, what are the chances you will get to work as an RN in an ED after you graduate? RN's who worked in the ED have a leg up in finding a job as an NP in the ED (for various reasons: familiarity with the setting, having an established relationship with ED physicians who know you and trust your skill).

You may want to think about PA if you're not even an RN yet because in this current job climate, it's hard for even experienced RN's to realistically pin down a narrow specialty goal for a future NP position. Also check in PA forums and see if PA's who were once EMT's are preferred in that setting as well.