Nurse or Physician's Assitant

[MurseTinz, BSN, RN]

I realize that this article might be a traitorous to the purpose of this website, but I'm at a bit of a cross-roads.

I'm currently completing my prereqs for a concurrent enrollment program for the ADN/BSN. I'm 2 classes away from finishing that up. My goal there would be to eventually become a Nurse Practitioner.

However, my wife asked if I had considered a PA program, as I'm pretty close to the prereqs for that as well. I hadn't, until recently.

I'm aware of the levels of autonomy, the restrictions in my state, the prospective salaries in my state.

My biggest turn-on for the PA program is that it's 2 years and I'm at the level I want to.

My biggest turn-on for RN-to-NP is that I can work throughout the program and not have a 2 year gap in my earning.

Neither program is going to provide me with a boost in earnings, it's just something I want for my life.

[Sour Lemon]

It's hard to make major life decisions for other people. If you don't even know what works best for you, then how would I know?

[Luckyyou, BSN, RN]

Most PA programs also require a number of paid healthcare experience hours.

[cleback]

Most pa programs are very competitive and the ones I know mirror med school application. I say this because I find it hard to believe your nursing programs requirements fulfill the PA programs.but I am wrong sometimes.

If you can afford not to work for two years and want straight into a provider role, PA is the way to go. The programs start you from scratch, so to speak, and don't assume you have experience as a nurse.

[offlabel]

Unless you want to do anesthesia, by and large, PA school is the way to go. Between the explosion of NP programs and the sketchy quality of many, there is more of a future in the former. I work with both and even the NP's say that their PA counterparts are better trained. This is because PA's are trained in the medical model which is essential for advanced practice. Unless someone has deep and meaningful experience as an RN, my opinion is to avoid NP training for advanced practice.

[guest769224]

Unless someone has deep and meaningful experience as an RN, my opinion is to avoid NP training for advanced practice.

I wish you would share your opinion over in the NP and student NP forums regarding RN experience because there are posters there that get very worked up if one dare suggests RN experience prior to NP. But I do agree with you, PA and CRNA are a much better career choice.

[traumaRUs, MSN, APRN]

Moved to general nursing student forum

[rgo2018]

Not sure about your stats and if you have prior direct patient care experience, but PA programs are extremely competitive! You must have a stellar GPA, strong letters of recommendation, shadowing hours, and a great GRE score.

[TheDudeWithTheBigDog, ADN, RN]

I wish you would share your opinion over in the NP and student NP forums regarding RN experience because there are posters there that get very worked up if one dare suggests RN experience prior to NP. But I do agree with you, PA and CRNA are a much better career choice.

I can't agree with avoiding NP unless you've had a ton of RN experience. To me, that's the same as saying you need to be a CNA before you can be a nurse. Does it help? Of course, there's no denying that. Will it matter 10 years into your career? Not at all.

Plus most NP programs require work experience as a nurse, because there's just some things you're not going to learn in your classroom. Ultimately, they both end up with similar amounts of time in clinical experience, either as a nurse, or in clinical classes in PA school. But you don't need a 10 year commitment to bedside nursing before you can decide you want to move on to advanced care.

It's going to depend on you. If nursing is constant very hard decisions that you have to make every day, then you need to stick with it and gain lots of experience before moving on to be a NP, but if it's common sense, get your couple years experience that the school demands, then move on.

Ultimately, you're going to have the same job. That physician doesn't care if you've been an RN for the last 20 years, you're still going to start just as restricted as one of his PAs. That's just the reality of life.

In the real world, he's not going to risk his license until he knows he can trust you. And he's not going to trust you until you have experience and have learned in the real world.

[RedInPurple]

I think these are things people need to figure out for themselves.

[Horseshoe, BSN, RN]

Just wanted to echo what someone else said about needing a history in patient care:

Application to PA school is highly competitive.

You'll typically need to complete at least two years of college coursework in basic and behavioral sciences before applying to a PA program, which is very similar to premedical studies.

The majority of PA programs have the following prerequisites:

Chemistry

Physiology

Anatomy

Microbiology

Biology

***Many PA programs also require prior healthcare experience with hands-on patient care.***

You can get healthcare experience by being a (not an exhaustive list):

Medical assistant

Emergency medical technician (EMT)

Paramedic

Medic or medical corpsman

Peace Corps volunteer

Lab assistant/phlebotomist

Registered nurse

Emergency room technician

Surgical tech

Certified nursing assistant (CNA)

Most students have a bachelor's degree and about three years of healthcare experience before entering a program.

Learn more about getting into a PA program:

Become a PA - AAPA

[broughden]

I also did a comparison of DNP versus PA programs. I looked really hard at Yale's new PA program. The decision maker to me is that PA is largely a US thing, with Canada being the only other country (I believe) where they are recognized and utilized.

My wife and I plan to retire overseas so being an ENP with a DNP degree will allow me to continue practicing in most of the countries I have looked at.