do physical therapists make more money than RNs?

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I was just curious...thanks!

A pt with a masters or a doctorate will earn 150K+

we have a program for pt [techs?] that is for two years with a prequisate of two years college . this class is limited to 18 students on grad they work with a pt their average income is 50-60K to start under them are specially trained nurses and cna who usually to the hands on work with the patient

as for the blocked schedules i believe that this is determined by medicare and insurance and to be honest this is where the big bucks comes from somebody had to pay out the money and in our society that is who calls the tune

By the way: PT= Physical therapists or Physical therapy

pt= patient "Big Difference"

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For a better understanding, in the year 2020 every PT must have a "Doctors degree in PT" in order to work as a PT. They will no longer work with a masters. And by the way PT's go to school longer than nurses. Nurses can become RN's in 2 or 4 years. thats nothing. PT's have a strenuous job. Do a research. They have as many options as nurses do, for instance they work in wound care, orthopedics, cardiac centers, aquatic, and 20 other different types of centers. They have as much work as RN's do. They have to exercise with patients, take SOUP notes, evaluate them just like doctors, boy its a handful. They get paid $45-50/hr for a reason. Also PTA's (physical therapist assistants) make as much as nurses; they too have a lot to do. They do what PT's do such as SOUP notes and etc, except evaluating a patient and they need to work under a PT's supervision, just like nurses need a supervising nurse, same deal.

nurses do all that and more. you can be an rn with a phd and an mba and it wouldn't matter. professional nursing is a huge challenge and i welcome you to the challenge when you graduate!

btw, hospitals are desparate for professional nurses, not pts. there's a reason. do you ever wonder why there's this awful ongoing shortage of nurses in america? i really think if nursing required a bs/ba degree and paid about $40 an hour, or per service/procedue, things would change.

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Yes, physical therapists need at least a Master's degree, if not a PhD in some places to start working in the field. Most programs take 6 years, but sometimes you can get into a program as a college freshman where you get your Bachelor's and Master's in 5 years. This includes summer co-ops, though (like nursing clinicals or internships), so it's year-round for 5 years. Both my sister-in-law and a friend of mine did these programs, one in Boston and one in Milwaukee. They both started out making more money than I did as an RN and worked Monday-Friday, daytime hours. On paper, PT is a much more "normal" job and has lots of benefits that nurses don't have - like a normal schedule!

HOWEVER...

I personally know two PTs. Neither is happy.

My sister-in-law has only been practicing for a year now. She already hates her job as a neuro rehab PT and is trying to get into an Early Childhood Intervention or hospital pediatrics program instead. Her days are very very structured. She has a strict schedule of half-hour sessions that she has to keep on track and she gets bored with the monotony of it all, especially because she doesn't really have much interest the adult neuro population. She's enjoying the money but would rather find a lower-paying job that she likes better, thus her desire to work for Early Intervention - neo/peds is her niche.

My friend also hated the strict half-hour schedule and felt that she was working for a business more than she was helping people. Everything was about patients being billed for this or that, so she felt it was more about money than caring. She gave it 7 years, then went back to school for an accelerated BSN program, and she is on month 12 of 13 right now, with graduation around the corner. She knows she will make less money as an RN but she is much more excited about this field. Right now she is going to go into ICU for a few years because she enjoys the technology and challenges found there, plus she looks forward to focusing on 1-2 patients for her whole shift instead of having to rush through each patient in only 30 minutes. She eventually wants to get involved with some sort of community health center, educating the masses. She feels she has many many more options with her BSN than she did with her Master's in PT.

Another downfall of PT is that there are are only so many jobs out there. Take my sister-in-law for example. She really would love to be a PT that only works in the NICU - but it's so hard to come by! My unit has ONE PT that works just with our babies - yet we have over 130 nurses on staff! If NICU was her true passion, my sister-in-law would have had a MUCH MUCH better chance of working with this population as an RN rather than as a PT.

I say someone interested in both fields might want to shadow and RN and a PT for a day and see what their jobs entail before making a decision. It's not always about money in the end.

The reason people are not happy with their jobs is because they got into a profession that they thought at the time they were going to like. A lot of nurses have changed their jobs to become PT's or Real estate agents, and some PT's have also changed their jobs to become RN's or other professions. So it's not fair to say that PT's job or nurses job suck. Or maybe they just had a bad experience at their work place. Or they found out too late that their job was not meant to be. I found out nursing was not for me so I switched to PT, and this is why I could see both sides of the story. You need to find out who you are, think about the work you are going to be facing.

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Specializes in NICU.

In Manitoba, according to Manitoba Labour Market Information:

A physiotherapist starts out at 49,000 with average earnings of 56,800

An RN starts out at 52,700 with average earnings of 62,100

:roll

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Specializes in L&D.
In Manitoba, according to Manitoba Labour Market Information:

A physiotherapist starts out at 49,000 with average earnings of 56,800

An RN starts out at 52,700 with average earnings of 62,100

:roll

Is a physical therapist the same as a physiotherapist?

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Specializes in NICU.
Is a physical therapist the same as a physiotherapist?

Yep.. according to Wikipedia..

The term physical therapy appears to be favored in the United States, while physiotherapy - or physio - appears to be favored in Canada, Australia, and many other countries

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You should ask a hospital PT....that would answer it for you.

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Um yeah PT is making more than nurse..but nurse's can make even more by working 12 hours a day 5-6 days a week.Can PT do that?Does pt have a option to work at night or day?Besides you guys are talking about a nurse with no specialization.What about the nurse anesthetist,the reported average annual salary in 1999 was approximately $100,000.Paralegal nurse is making 150 dollars per hour;).

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Specializes in ED, Cardiac Medicine, Retail Health.

In my area RN's make a little more. New grad RN's make more than new grad PT's. More jobs for RN's also. Both are very good professions though.

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Its kinda weird a lot of people in http://www.rehabedge.com/index.asp complaining that PT is not making that much money.They are talking about their salary is cap into 67k a year.And in this forum you guys are talking about pt is making 100 k a year.

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Specializes in Cardiac.

Hi all,

Just wanted to add my two cents...Reading through this post, I have become even more confident in my decision to obtain my BSN. While I am in no way making any judgements whatsoever in the different educational paths nurses choose to take, I want to give myself as many options as possible. I am a second career nursing student and have met many unhappy nurses and many satisfied nurses. I have been fortunate enough to have spoken to many different nurses with their Diplomas, Associates, Bachelor's, Master's...I know entering the field that bedside nursing is not where I want to remain. I want to learn the valuable skills that can be learned at the bedside and then move on to learn the valuable skills that can obtained as an advanced practive nurse. It is so disappointing to read through this thread and others and see how at war we are within our own profession. I give other professions credit, as in Physical Therapy and Occupational Therapy, that can make a decision to change the entry level of practice and then put that decision into action. I feel that we, as nurses, can be our own worst enemies when it comes to advancing our practice and our profession. Obviously, I know that we are not the only profession with these issues. However, we, especially as a profession almost completely dominated by women (although this is changing, maybe for the better) need to learn to pull together. What will it take to stop all of the battles over Diploma vs. ASN vs. BSN and just join together and do what we need to do to finally move up and on? I'm ready for some change, how about the rest of you?

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YES! With what Ive seen here in Texas RNs 23-26/hr, PTs 35-40/hr.

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