PA speaks poorly of RN's

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PA's who are they? I just heard of them within the last few years. If not mistaken, I believe there are two per state (joking). Any hoot, I had an interesting conversation with a high school friend that I have not spoken to in about a year. She is now a physician in the OR and currently working on her residency to become a surgeon. As we were catching up on current situations, she had the audacity to put a PA on the phone after I told her I was in nursing school. The PA kind of caught me off guard as I was in the midst of running errands and in and out of loud places. To be respectful I stepped out of the store to speak with this unknown person and to be able to hear her clearly. I was told that they are now phasing RN's out, so getting a BSN will soon be worthless. I chuckled as I could not believe what I was hearing. I remained calm and did not unleash the "pitbull" from its skirt. I was told that in order to get $$$$ one will have to become an NP. RN's are getting paid bedpan money for doing bed pan work. I was flabbergasted by her comments. Has anyone else heard of such a thing? Please share your thoughts and comments. If I ever have an opportunity to speak to this person again I thought about given her a piece of my mind, but then again why bother; not worth the time and energy.

Specializes in Pediatric/Adolescent, Med-Surg.
Where can an RN make close to a 100K as a new grad. Please tell me because I'd love to work there.

Umm ready the previous post again, there was no mention that new grads could obtain a salary of 100k. The poster said "nurses" could obtain a salary of 100k not "new grads."

I personally, as an experienced nurse, can make close to that.

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Specializes in ED, ICU, PSYCH, PP, CEN.

The PA was just trying to build themselves up by knocking you down. And the "friend" that put them on is not your friend. I actually know several ADNs that have worked their way up to house supervisor over the years, and a PA would never be able to do that. I have made 90,000 annually for changing bedpans and I sure can't see any PAs doing the bedpan thing.

If hospitals do eventually manage to get rid of RNs we will see the level of pt care desinigrate as we know that CNAs frequently do not bring the level of responsibility and maturity to the job that RNs usually do. Quite possibly because they don't get the pay they deserve for the difficult jobs they have. Flame me now if you must.

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Umm ready the previous post again, there was no mention that new grads could obtain a salary of 100k. The poster said "nurses" could obtain a salary of 100k not "new grads."

I personally, as an experienced nurse, can make close to that.

I know. :) I was making a point that the previous poster also misread my post that RNs do not make as much money as PAs right out of school. He/She suggested they did.

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Specializes in Peri-Op.
Where can an RN make close to a 100K as a new grad. Please tell me because I'd love to work there.

I live in san antonio, tx. I made $101k my first year out of nursing school. Sorry to burst your bubble. You have now met one, you know what city I am in. I work in surgery and was at a smaller facility. I have moved to a larger facility now and made the same in 2010 as I did in 2009 which is a bit more than what I made my first year as you can imagine....

OP, my first major concern is that pitbull that is poised under your skirt.... WTH is it doing there? lol

Secondly, my simple response to the PA would have been..... are you mentally challenged or just grossly unaware of the world of health care?

Also to the poster that said they think texas is phasing out RNs.... LOL

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Thank You all for the responses. Some I agree with and some I disagree with, but I do appreciate them all. As far as my telephone skills lacking, I found that comment to be hilarious just like the PA on the telephone. I didn't think I had to spell out every little detail of the conversation seeing how it only lasted about a good 45 seconds and ended with a "thank you for the information and encouragement". If I was not caught off guard and in the midst of other things, I probably would have gave it to her as well as my friend for putting someone like that on the phone. Needless to say I will probably not be talking to my distance friend for a while seeing how we only converse maybe once or twice a year. I am confident in my decision to pursue a career in nursing and will not let anyone tell me otherwise regardless of who they are or the status they may hold. It always fail to amaze me the elitist attitudes of other professions when we all depend on one another to get the job done. Anyway, if you enjoy what you are doing, money should not matter. A nurse can NEVER get paid the amount of money they are actually worth for their contributions to the healthcare system. I am glad I have made my switch and have enjoyed it thus far. I do know I will encounter many people like the PA along the way, but with courage and confidence I will bypass negativity with a breeze. PEACE!

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well well well.

i am a pa so take my comments from that perspective.

a few things to clear up.

degree: there are three basic different academic credentials that pas are awarded- certificate, bachelors and masters. there is a niche for clinical doctorates but it’s not significant in the world of pa-dom. irrespective of these credentials, all pas must be certified (based on the clinical boards). state licensure/registration varies across the country. whichever letters the pa carries, they have all completed the same clinical content in pa school and have reached the same bar for competency, the with a cert/bs/ms.

the bodies which oversee pas in terms of representation/legislation and certification have, right or wrong, agreed that the masters should be the entry level degree in the near future. imo, this is a reflection of what nps have done, although this is a long time brewing given the level of academic and clinical work done by pas. i must ask to those here who regard pas as “just” a bachelors, will you respect them more when they all have a masters? (for the record i have a masters so i have no bone to pick there).

salary: you can find examples and outliers on each side, but i’m guessing the average new grad rn salary is less than the average new grad pa. but if anyone here knows the numbers it would be enlightening to us all. pa and np salaries have always been close and different sources have them separated by a slim margin, with a lot of variance based on specialty of focus. i don’t see the point in comparing pa and rn salaries since the jobs are not even close to similar.

territory: nurses (just like pas) will go through a professional evolution as health care financing progresses. near impossible that they will get phased out. hilarious that someone would speak this as if it was factual or even probable.

collegiality: there are comments on this board which ask that we all “work together” while others feel quite free and quick to denigrate pas. not really sure why, but the antagonism between pas and nursing is becoming old news, so the question is- which side of professionalism do you want to be on? rns aren’t going anywhere. pas aren’t going anywhere either.

some pa numbers from way back in ’07 (courtesy of advance)

prescriptions- 303,912,505

visits – 245,837,806

fp visits – 117,887,373

without pas, many of these patients don’t get seen. it is not simply a matter of docs being busier. to believe otherwise is foolish, prideful, or both. pas have chosen to fill a role that physicians vacated- underserved primary care. docs as a group have less of a desire to assume lower salaries with a higher patient/time burden. pas, and nps, are the solution in an era of escalating cost and lack of uniform practice patterns.

takeback

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I did laugh at the bedpan comment. I have heard from some people not in healthcare that nurses get paid a lot of money for what they do. These people probably have no idea what we do, just what they saw on tv...... Never had a MD or PA say that at least not to me.

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I live in san antonio, tx. I made $101k my first year out of nursing school. Sorry to burst your bubble. You have now met one, you know what city I am in. I work in surgery and was at a smaller facility. I have moved to a larger facility now and made the same in 2010 as I did in 2009 which is a bit more than what I made my first year as you can imagine....

OP, my first major concern is that pitbull that is poised under your skirt.... WTH is it doing there? lol

Secondly, my simple response to the PA would have been..... are you mentally challenged or just grossly unaware of the world of health care?

Yeah, the average RN salary in San Antonio is around 60K. If you made 101K you must have been picking up overtime like a madman. San Antonio must be a rather expensive place as well. High cost of living? Where I live, the pay is insulting.

lso to the poster that said they think texas is phasing out RNs.... LOL

What the hell? Who would be dumb enough to think that?

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Specializes in M/S, Travel Nursing, Pulmonary.
Yeah, the average RN salary in San Antonio is around 60K. If you made 101K you must have been picking up overtime like a madman. San Antonio must be a rather expensive place as well. High cost of living? Where I live, the pay is insulting.

What the hell? Who would be dumb enough to think that?

Oh darn, it didn't quote everything? Ah well.

ISO poster who thinks Texas is "phasing out RNs"?

Hello, nice to meet you. :clown:

Yes, while I was travel nursing I was told conditions for nurses in TX were..........well, not the best. Case in point, when the economy crashed and there were very few travel jobs available..........TX still used travelers. I knew of two travel nurses from TX who refused to go home and practice nursing there. Instead, they took staff positions at other places (WA, both of them) and planned on waiting out the shortage of jobs.

Then, not long after, I read about how many hospitals were implementing "med techs". The article (no, I can't find it now, this was like.......gosh, three years ago almost) talked about how med techs were being used in many nursing homes already and hospitals in a few states were trying them now too. TX was one of the........eh, six or seven or so states trying it (AZ and FL also). This kinda started me wondering about what nurses were treated like if they were staff.

While traveling back from WA to PA, my recruiter called me. He wanted me to stop in Houston for a 5 week assignment at a hospital. I was about half way home at the time, told him I'd get back to him in the AM about it. Called around, talked to fellow travelers and, of the three that new the area and hospital...................all three said "Hell no, don't go, its bad conditions and they'll use you for about three weeks then cut you early." This contributed to my assertion that TX as a whole did not think highly of nurses.

Soooooo.............lots of little things added up to my opinion that yes, TX was trying to phase out nursing. In TX, "everything is big"............including the nurse to pt. ratios (to quote another traveler who said avoid TX as a whole).

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Oh darn, it didn't quote everything? Ah well.

ISO poster who thinks Texas is "phasing out RNs"?

Hello, nice to meet you. :clown:

Yes, while I was travel nursing I was told conditions for nurses in TX were..........well, not the best. Case in point, when the economy crashed and there were very few travel jobs available..........TX still used travelers. I knew of two travel nurses from TX who refused to go home and practice nursing there. Instead, they took staff positions at other places (WA, both of them) and planned on waiting out the shortage of jobs.

Then, not long after, I read about how many hospitals were implementing "med techs". The article (no, I can't find it now, this was like.......gosh, three years ago almost) talked about how med techs were being used in many nursing homes already and hospitals in a few states were trying them now too. TX was one of the........eh, six or seven or so states trying it (AZ and FL also). This kinda started me wondering about what nurses were treated like if they were staff.

While traveling back from WA to PA, my recruiter called me. He wanted me to stop in Houston for a 5 week assignment at a hospital. I was about half way home at the time, told him I'd get back to him in the AM about it. Called around, talked to fellow travelers and, of the three that new the area and hospital...................all three said "Hell no, don't go, its bad conditions and they'll use you for about three weeks then cut you early." This contributed to my assertion that TX as a whole did not think highly of nurses.

Soooooo.............lots of little things added up to my opinion that yes, TX was trying to phase out nursing. In TX, "everything is big"............including the nurse to pt. ratios (to quote another traveler who said avoid TX as a whole).

Interesting. I stand corrected. While I wouldn't be surprised if hospitals in Texas are trying to scale back, I just don't see RNs being phased out. It's just not possible. You supplement the nursing staff with CNAs and med techs to reduce the number of RNs needed to staff a unit, and put them in more a supervisory role. I could see that happening. But, it's simply impossible to get rid of us entirely. Even a SNF or LTC can't run without at least one nurse around.

Otherwise, thanks for the info. I wasn't planning on ever moving to Texas (the southeast is bad enough), but now I have more reasons to cross it off my list. :)

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Specializes in M/S, Travel Nursing, Pulmonary.
Interesting. I stand corrected. While I wouldn't be surprised if hospitals in Texas are trying to scale back, I just don't see RNs being phased out. It's just not possible. You supplement the nursing staff with CNAs and med techs to reduce the number of RNs needed to staff a unit, and put them in more a supervisory role. I could see that happening. But, it's simply impossible to get rid of us entirely. Even a SNF or LTC can't run without at least one nurse around.

Otherwise, thanks for the info. I wasn't planning on ever moving to Texas (the southeast is bad enough), but now I have more reasons to cross it off my list. :)

I might need to clarify too, when I say "phase out".......................I mean, like you were saying.........I mean "scale back", not completely eliminate them.

Heck, we've been "phasing out" LPNs for decades now, they are still around.

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I might need to clarify too, when I say "phase out".......................I mean, like you were saying.........I mean "scale back", not completely eliminate them.

Heck, we've been "phasing out" LPNs for decades now, they are still around.

That clarification helped. When you say "phase out" I take that to literally mean "do away with."

As for "scaling back," I have no trouble believing that. :)

It will be almost impossible to phase out LPNs. LTC will always need them. They are being phased out in most major hospitals though (at least that's my experience.) They're still around, but typically only in an advanced tech role. Its tough to have someone who isn't allowed (in my state at least) to push IV meds take an assignment.

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