Mid Level practitioner best for surgery.

[apjacobs]

Hello,

I am a RN BSN who has worked in MS for 3 and a half years (CMSRN and whatnot) who also got into PICC nursing on the side about a year and a half in. It was at that point I discovered that I liked doing procedures more than anything else. As such, I have a large interest in doing some kind of surgery some day. I have always been more attracted to the technical aside of healthcare rather than the holistic and I want my next move to reflect that. I know the debate of PA vs NP will forever cause a general rabble rabble to break out, but I personally feel that because my goals are aligned to surgery/procedural side of healthcare that going for a PA-C is better despite the whole autonomy lobbying deal. Right now Im a travel nurse and my last rotation will hopefully set me up to start schooling wherever that may be. Also, I only just got out of the army nurse corp, so my experience with PAs has been pretty exclusively military. I know its different on the civy side.

Top choices:

Intervention Radiology

Cardiac (Catheterizations)

Orthopedics

General

as you can see, I prefer the minimally invasive side of house so if there is some kind of other surgical sub specialty you can recommend I'm all ears!

[PNW_NPstudent]

I'm finishing FNP school shortly and have been in IR as an RN for 5 years. NPs and PAs both do IR. I find that preference for one over the other seems to be regional. I will be doing a final clinical rotation in IR where I place HD caths, ports, do paras and thoras, liver bxs, etc, under an NP and a PA. In my facility, these have been performed independently by PAs and NPs (doc in house, but not in procedure room).

[Dodongo, APRN, NP]

You sound like me. I am in ACNP school and in the middle of an RNFA program. You will be well prepared to practice in the OR, IR, etc. I work in IR and the PAs and NPs do procedures independently (although the PAs still need everything cosigned, even if it is only within 24 hours). Being a PA isnt bad but legally (in many states) being an NP is better. So, IMO, doing an ACNP and RNFA together is the way to go.