Nurse Practitioner vs Physicians Assistant

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I'm in my junior year of nursing school and I am set on furthering my education to either be a PA or NP. Ideally, I would like to work with baby's. Possibly a Neonatal Nurse Practitioner. However, I would be happy being a Ped PA. What is everyone's opinion on being a NP versus a PA in regards to working with baby's?

Thanks so much!

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Why would they do that, when that is exactly what it is called? Your statement makes no sense to me. I doubt pronunciation in the "plural form" would make them throw your application out, but whatevs.

That is a professional title.

it's about proper titles, pa school is a hard thing to get into so you would want to make sure you actually knew the proper title is all I'm saying. You can easily Google students who where invited to interviews only to be drilled the entire time about how they where not even aware of the real title. There is also a PA forum that has plenty of PA admission counselors who have spoken to the issue. I honestly wish her the best luck and just wanted to save her any potential future issues. However since this is now going off topic I will leave it at that.

Have a good night.

It’s Physician Assistant, Not Physician’s Assistant - PAs Connect

Physician's Assistant, or Physician Assistant?

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Specializes in Education, FP, LNC, Forensics, ED, OB.

Thread moved to Student NP forum for the best reply.

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Hum, you must not have an iPhone to experience autocorrect.

However, I asked for advice on the difference between the two professions, not on my application. However, when I need advice on my application I will certainly ask you!

Thank you! :]

I did not intend to come across as rude by pointing out the misspelling.

I do, as a matter of fact, have autocorrect and can relate to the annoying habit of it swapping our intended words with incorrect ones. The reason I pointed this out is that there are those who truly do not know the correct use of some words and it would be a shame for an otherwise educated, capable and qualified individual to have their application tossed and not be given a chance for admission to their program of choice due to an honest grammar or spelling mistake.

You may not believe this, but the details are important in things such as this. I meant well by mentioning this oversight to you in the hopes that you proofread your application for any possible mistakes to ensure your best chance for success. To have your application thrown away without a second glance by an admissions reviewer who thinks that you can't even be bothered to ensure the proper spelling of the patient population that you wish to work with would be terrible.

Anyway, it may serve you well in the future to be open to any and all sources of helpful advice, regardless of whether you specifically asked for it. Again, no intention on my part to harass/ridicule you, it was meant to be helpful.

Best of luck to you with your education.

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I honestly wish her the best luck and just wanted to save her any potential future issues. However since this is now going off topic I will leave it at that.

Have a good night.

It’s Physician Assistant, Not Physician’s Assistant - PAs Connect

Physician's Assistant, or Physician Assistant?

We're in the same boat here. I guess that old saying "no good deed goes unpunished" is proving true.

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I don't have anything meaningful to add but I just wanted to chime in on how I love the fact that this thread went from a poster inquiring about a specific field to a spelling and grammar fight. LOL One of the many reasons I come on allnurses, to get a good chuckle. :roflmao:

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I don't have anything meaningful to add but I just wanted to chime in on how I love the fact that this thread went from a poster inquiring about a specific field to a spelling and grammar fight. LOL One of the many reasons I come on allnurses, to get a good chuckle. :roflmao:

Yeah, they tend to do that at times. I've witnessed many threads take on a new life far removed from the original topic.

I guess that's a pitfall of communication such as this. I know in my case, and it appears in the other poster's (who mentioned grammar) case as well, that our intentions were misconstrued. We've both explained that our intention was not to derail the OP's thread or pick on them, we felt it was useful advice pertintent to help them achieve their end goal. It's time like this when I receive a flippant comment back from the OP that I ask myself, "why even waste my time and bother responding?" To post a thread and then attempt to dictate to the masses what exactly they're welcome to and not welcome to respond to or place stipulations on responses is ungracious in my opinion. And it's not the way it works on public sites such as this. Why seek outside opinions if you already know it all and you've got it all figured out?

So in these cases, my thoughts shift to..."here's the rope, good luck with that" :sarcastic:

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No problem! I appreciate you catching my mistake. I was just looking for advice on the main topic of conversation, not my grammar. That's all. Totally appreciate your correction though! I'll be more aware.

:]

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Seriously! All I wanted was some advice on my future, not my grammar! Haha. Oh well, some people just worry about the little things. Not me! :]

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I think NP schools have been around longer than PAs. PA is a very recent thing where people can prescribe and work with the doctors. I personally prefer NPs over PAs. Also NPs can open their own practice in some states vs PAs where they can only work with a doctor. So look into both...compare the pros and cons. Good luck! And also who cares about your grammar ;)

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I'm leaning towards NP mainly because a lot of people say they prefer NPs over PAs. Thanks for the advice and support. I appreciate it.

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Ok I do have something meaningful to add LOL.

The main difference between PA and NP is that the PA is trained to treat the "illness" where as NP still has that "nursing process" background that you just can't get rid off. A NP will always have that bedside patient care mentality that I believe is plus one for the NP.

As far as which profession is "preferred" I don't think employers will prefer one over the other because they basically do the same exact thing, well except here in Florida but they are still trying to change the laws so NP's in Florida in practice at their true potential.

I know a little about both professions because after I couldn't get into nursing school back in 2008 due to the extremely long wait list I decided to go the PA route. After graduating with my BS degree and applying to PA school it was like trying to get into medical school. Extremely Difficult!!!! GRRRR!!!! So I decided to go back to Nursing and eventually become a NP.

I will tell you this. During my required shadowing experience the PA's I shadowed were not pleased because they expressed they were "overworked and underpaid" but I would think to myself "well that's not anything new. Many employees are overworked and underpaid" but I didn't tell them that :)

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