leenie71

I'm in my clinical now of Adult Gero primary care np program...and in the same boat as you. I had many second thoughts before I started clinical in May but thought I was too far in to quit completely and only had the 1 yr of clinical left. Now I had to go part-time and balancing work, clinical, home and bills is overwhelming. Hoping it gets easier to manage everything. No student loan debt for me either. I'm on the 5 yr plan and just took one class at a time sometimes taking semesters off--- not sure that I should have continued but kept thinking that I would regret not finishing. I thought about going into the nurse educator track at the last minute but that would have meant 6 more classes (or 2 more years if doing one class per semester!). Just 10 months left. No advice for you but just wanted to commiserate. Wish you best of luck in whatever you decide!!

Wanted to add also that being a PTA is not a fast-track to PT....you would have to start at square one with a PT program. No credit would be given for your PTA education because PTA is an Associates degree and PT is now a doctorate program. They are two very different programs and really, two different career paths.

A little about me....I'm 40 yrs old. I come from a family of RNs (mom and sister), but I didn't think I could do it myself. Instead, I had always wanted to be a PT and got my BS in Biology first, planning to apply to grad school for PT (before it was a DPT program). Was wait-listed, then worked in unrelated job for a while. Decided to go the PTA route, finished that program in 2 yrs and worked in Pennsylvania for 7 yrs doing mostly acute care and rehab. Realized that I was not making much compared to the nurses I worked side by side with everyday. Earned my BSN 6 years ago and so glad I did. I'll be honest, PTA is a dead-end job....that's coming from personal experience and the earning potential is limited. I did enjoy it, but personally it got to me that I could know more and be doing more. I don't regret my PTA experience, because it ultimately led me to go for nursing but it was definitely the long route! In my opinion, ditch the PTA plans and go for nursing. There are so many career options available. Hope my sharing helped and best of luck to you in your decision!

Hi there, I recently graduated from an accelerated BSN program and started orientation at my hospital a couple of weeks ago. There are quite a few things that I did not have the opportunity to do on my clinical rotations, such as insert Foleys or even give an IM injection (did it on newborns, but not adults!) But I think that the skills that I missed in school on actual patients will come with time and experience. It was stressed to me many times by my clinical instructors that it is most important that you know WHY you are performing certain skills and when not to do them or contraindications, etc. The skills are a mostly a dexterity thing (so I'm told) and we'll get them. Don't get me wrong...I'm nervous and anxious everyday, but I try not to stress about things I haven't done yet. My preceptor is great and no new nurse is expected to know everything or to have done everything. My preceptor told me that her biggest expectation of me is that I ask questions! And believe me, I do! As you know, clinicals are nothing like the actual working environment as a new RN. As Danae mentioned, the real learning is on the job. Doing the accelerated program was one of the best things I've ever done and one of the hardest things. But, I finished in less than a year and passed the boards no problem. You'll make it through....hang in there and best of luck to you!