Nurse to Chiro?

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Hi! Im hoping someone here can shed some light. Im going to go back to school and am planning to do nursing and then chiropractic. My goal is to eventually be able to have a holistic practice. Im seeing posts of people going from chiro to nursing, but its my understanding that a BS is needed before getting into chiro school anyhow. From what I gather, it would benefit me to have both. Does it makes sense for me to get my BSN and then go to chiro school? Insight or advice? Tia

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So you want to go from America's Most Trusted Profession, which is in a tremendous advanced practice growth period, to a field claimed by many to be quackery?

Big data is exposing most hollistic medicine practices for what they are- diet and exercise. If you want to make a living charging people to tell them how to maintain a healthy body weight through dietary moderation and vigorous exercise, be my guest.

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Specializes in Med-Surg., Oncology, Observational Units.

I am not a fan of this anti integrative/holistic/alternative/chiropractic medicine(calling it quackery) that many nurses on Allnurses seem to have as the first comment seems to convey. Honestly, I think the foundation of nursing was built on approaching disease from a more holistic stand point. Nursing has gotten away from this and adopted medicine's approach to disease(splitting it up into parts), and nursing needs to get back to seeing the patient as a whole.

Anyways, to answer your question MissWinnie. If you want to go the Chiro route eventually, I would get a degree in exercise science or physiology, but I do not believe a BSN will be the best degree for going on to Chiro school. However, if you want to practice as a "holistic practitioner" you can do that as a nurse practitioner. In this case, you would need your BSN to do this.

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A degree in nursing will have an allopathic Western medical focus, which will not hold Chiropractors in high regard. You could go this route, but the models are completely different. Agree that getting a non nursing science based degree would be advised. Also, look at the schools you are interested in, and see their admission requirements. This will help you get a feel of what your undergraduate degree should be.

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Specializes in Adult Nurse Practitioner.

There is a big "black cloud" over chiropractors. Some due to the arrogance of "everything can be fixed by an adjustment", some from ignorance and "forgetfulness" (did we not learn about spinal segments, inervation, and organs in A&P?), and some from the fact that DCS do not prescribe/adhere to the traditional approach using drugs. Until the late 1980s and early 1990s...DOS were considered "quacks". WI'll you gleam a substantial education that is holistic in chiropractic school? Will depend on the school. You may be better served to consider, as previously suggested, obtaining your APRN and then going into some holistic/naturopath courses. I am sure my post is going to generate some significant "fires" :rolleyes:

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I really appreciate the constructive comments. Thank you! I am looking into your suggestions.

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Specializes in Pediatric, Med Surg Oncology.

I have a friend who is a chiropractor, business wasn't picking up and she went back to get her nursing degree. Just saying nursing seems to be more lucrative

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I have a chiropractic degree and a nursing degree. I would advise not going to chiropractic school based on poor reimbursement and lack cohesion in the field. That being said if your goal is chiropractic school you don't need a nursing degree. Chiropractic school is not competitive to get in. Some people I went to school with didn't have any undergraduate degree. If thats the goal you could apply and be accepted tomorrow. Good luck with whatever you decide.

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Does anyone else have more feedback on this topic? Are any nurses out there that pursued a chiropractic degree?

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Specializes in CRNA, Finally retired.

We are tripping over chiropractors where I live.  It is a crowded field and I've heard of chiropractors becoming nurses but never the other way around.  You aren't even a nurse yet.  Decide which you would like to become FIRST and then proceed.  If you are a chiropractor, you will have to run a business.  Is that something you want to do because it takes a lot of time and you'll have to learn how to do that.  Just do a year of college with some science courses and see if you are even suitable for either.

 

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I am a chiropractor with multiple board specialties under my belt, currently applying to nursing programs. 

Most chiropractic schools are stuck in the philosophy of a "bone out of place" ...which obviously isn't the case, and if it is, you are not in the right office. If you choose to go the chiropractic route, stay far away from those schools. Look for ones that have a heavier evidence based curriculum....I went to Palmer which is considered the "Harvard of chiropractic school" but was VERY philosophy based. 

Not only do we have a bad rep with most of the medical community, but since the language is not the standardized (based on evidence) across the board in our profession, patients are starting to get confused on who to believe. Don't even get me started on Chiro TikTok...No we cannot cure cancer, ADHD, diabetes, or predict the future with an adjustment. 

When it comes to jobs after school, they "elders eat their young." Fresh out, I was offered full-time starting at 30k...this wouldn't even have been enough to cover my loan repayment amount. Starting out, the median income is less than 50k. Anything you see online saying chirps make six figures either have 1, a non ethical practice recommending patients come in more than they really need to, or 2, they own their own business and are a cash practice.

It is absolutely true that the field is oversaturated, and this is the same in every state. The requirements, if you even want to call them that, are poor and there are even some schools that do not require you to have a Bachelors or any experience/course work in anatomy. In my opinion, this is a huge red flag.

Like someone said above, reimbursement with insurance is a joke, so most DCs are switching to cash. In order to actually make money in this profession, you'd have to own your own practice, but sacrifice your home life, or work for someone else seeing high volume (~50 + patients a day, which RECKS your body). So do not get into chiropractic if you think this is the way to "make it to the bank".

Long story short, I love what I do. I love that I get patients feeling better fast and back to their normal lives, educating them on what is actually happening with an adjustment, and working with other professionals to get the absolute best outcome for my patient. I hate the stigma behind chiropractic as a whole, even though I have see some minor positive changes with that over the past few years. I hate the student debt I have because of it (~250k). If your goal is to have more opportunity, more tools in your tool box per se, to help your patients and have a holistic practice, I'd recommend the nurse practitioner route and make friends with a DPT. I'm not telling you NOT to do chiropractic by the way, just really weigh out the pros and cons and do your research before committing. I'd also recommend touring every school IN PERSON and sit down with current students and talk about what they like/dislike about the program. This is the best way to get an insider view that won't have a bias like from an admissions counselor. 

If you have any other questions, feel free to reach out!

 

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Specializes in CRNA, Finally retired.
Tcourtn1 said:

I am a chiropractor with multiple board specialties under my belt, currently applying to nursing programs. 

Most chiropractic schools are stuck in the philosophy of a "bone out of place" ...which obviously isn't the case, and if it is, you are not in the right office. If you choose to go the chiropractic route, stay far away from those schools. Look for ones that have a heavier evidence based curriculum....I went to Palmer which is considered the "Harvard of chiropractic school" but was VERY philosophy based. 

Not only do we have a bad rep with most of the medical community, but since the language is not the standardized (based on evidence) across the board in our profession, patients are starting to get confused on who to believe. Don't even get me started on Chiro TikTok...No we cannot cure cancer, ADHD, diabetes, or predict the future with an adjustment. 

When it comes to jobs after school, they "elders eat their young." Fresh out, I was offered full-time starting at 30k...this wouldn't even have been enough to cover my loan repayment amount. Starting out, the median income is less than 50k. Anything you see online saying chirps make six figures either have 1, a non ethical practice recommending patients come in more than they really need to, or 2, they own their own business and are a cash practice.

It is absolutely true that the field is oversaturated, and this is the same in every state. The requirements, if you even want to call them that, are poor and there are even some schools that do not require you to have a Bachelors or any experience/course work in anatomy. In my opinion, this is a huge red flag.

Like someone said above, reimbursement with insurance is a joke, so most DCs are switching to cash. In order to actually make money in this profession, you'd have to own your own practice, but sacrifice your home life, or work for someone else seeing high volume (~50 + patients a day, which RECKS your body). So do not get into chiropractic if you think this is the way to "make it to the bank".

Long story short, I love what I do. I love that I get patients feeling better fast and back to their normal lives, educating them on what is actually happening with an adjustment, and working with other professionals to get the absolute best outcome for my patient. I hate the stigma behind chiropractic as a whole, even though I have see some minor positive changes with that over the past few years. I hate the student debt I have because of it (~250k). If your goal is to have more opportunity, more tools in your tool box per se, to help your patients and have a holistic practice, I'd recommend the nurse practitioner route and make friends with a DPT. I'm not telling you NOT to do chiropractic by the way, just really weigh out the pros and cons and do your research before committing. I'd also recommend touring every school IN PERSON and sit down with current students and talk about what they like/dislike about the program. This is the best way to get an insider view that won't have a bias like from an admissions counselor. 

If you have any other questions, feel free to reach out!

 

There used to be a chiropractic association that eschewed all the BS stuff and just did muscle manipulation.  That was maybe back in the 90's and I was trying to find someone for my mother in Floriduh.  She found a great guy but I noticed that the chiropractor's association put this fire out quickly and it no longer exists.  I have been lucky enough to find a guy who also just does muscle work and he is very busy.  Good luck with whatever you decide.  

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