Amerae

Hi there, I hope your winter session is going along alright if you in fact decided to stay! I generally agree with everyone here since you accomplished a LOT already just getting Into PA school (congrats!). While it may seem like a confusing situation now, the main ideas that calgrrl pointed out are where I stand too: You're basically deciding between PA and NP eventually and at that point, you're 1.5 years away from pretty much doing the same darn thing. There's something I read from a nurse on here not too long ago, it basically stated how people like to say that nurses have all of this great bedside manner that is so great to go be an NP because of their clinical experience, while PAs and MDs and DOs don't have as much going in. They instead stated that it isn't the experience of the profession (like already being a nurse) that makes the person have great bedside manners and personality, it's the person that comes into a profession and is already like this. Basically, if you're not caring already and interesting in being a great nurse/PA/Doctor etc., then you're probably never going to be! There are plenty of people who go into these professions without the best personality match for it. I really do think people get caught up in the large ideas behind professions and forget that all of these positions have people who are really not great with people and also have those who are AWESOME. It doesn't matter if you're a nurse/doctor/PA/CNA, if you're caring then you'll find a way to do your job more caring than someone who doesn't care about how personal their role is to each patient. I just wanted to throw that in there since you can be a great PA and bring your experiences and care into any situation and then get more comfortable with the more experiences you have. You had mentioned something about how NPs have more of that experience etc., but really it's You that brings the personality and interest to be a great clinician and PAs get great clinical experience compared to NPs and as others mentioned, you're much closer to being in a clinical role and gaining the experience you'd get as an RN but even better because of the fact that you stated you Want to be in an NP/PA role anyways! You're golden, you just have to get really excited again abt. the fact that you've made it, you've made it so much further than so many people, and you just have to know that it's so close to being over and you'll continue to learn your whole life all that stuff that you're learning now, so do your best to get through it :) I do realize maybe you've decided to drop out by now lol. I hope you haven't, but if you have it's not the end either. Life is SHORT and whatever you decide is really just fine. So much pressure is put on people who might just need a break. So if you made a mistake it's fine too. If you have to be an RN for the next 7 years or more before having enough money to go back to school, and you have to live off of beans and rice before heading back...well shoot...Who Cares! Of course you care, but if that's the only thing that'll work right now because you're on the verge of a meltdown, then that's what needs to happen. It's life, enjoy it, love your family and friends and relax...the world will not end based on what you decide and we'll all be dead soon anyways lol, so enjoy what you have and smile!! seriously! Also, did you not have to have or also your classmates not have to have any healthcare experience? I was under the impression that now most PA programs require anywhere from 1000 to 4000 hours of direct patient care experience and that it usually has to be some type of direct patient contact for that. I guess I'm trying to touch on the fact that you stated you're not sure about taking people from such varied backgrounds and making them the same. I know it used to be all ex military who'd do PA programs because that's who it was made for, but now days many people are becoming interested and so the experiences that are accepted are varied, so are they really trying to make you all the same? Maybe I didn't understand you, but I've been thinking it's so neat that you get to go to class with people from all diff. healthcare experience because you all bring a different piece of knowledge to healthcare. Maybe it's a mess though I don't know! Good Luck in whatever you've/are going to decide!

Hi all, thanks for the information I just read! I know I'm coming in on this quite a while later, but I was wondering what Fisherpe ended up deciding? Did you start working towards a BSN or MPH? I'm wondering what you guys think about my situation. I have a bachelor's degree in psychology, and have been accepted into an MSW program for this fall 2012. Fisherpe I see you have an MSW already, do you think it was useful for you since you're now going to pursue other things as well? I began taking courses for nursing last year, Micro. and I took the CNA course so I'd be able to work as a CNA for a while but I haven't chosen to go take the state cert. test because I stumbled upon social work last fall and decided to apply to MSW programs. I basically wasn't ready to continue taking another year of pre-requisites and wasn't sure nursing was for me yet...I'm not exactly sure how to know, even after my CNA class because it was mainly with the elderly and I know nursing is SO much broader than that! So basically I'm set to go through a 2 yr. MSW program and I'm just wondering if you guys think this is nuts if I know in the back of my head that I might end up doing an ADN after that like in my 30s (I'm 27 now...)? I also want to have kids, and given my age and the stats that go along with childbearing, I figure with an MSW I'd be out sooner and able to work for a little while instead of the 3+ years it'd take me to do prerequisites and a nursing program. I'm not kidding about that 1 year making a diff. lol, for me having kids the sooner = the better, and the only thing stopping me is that I don't have a set career...aka I don't have a good savings/job security etc. I'm not so worried abt. MSW salary since here in LA there are a lot more jobs for MSW for around 35-40K starting and I can live with that for a while. Anyone have advice abt. how to know whether to go into nursing or not? I felt like after my CNA course I wouldn't be happy being an RN because I usually notice more of the "big picture" and noticed that I'd like to be able to help out with case management and also with a LCSW you can counsel. Anyways any input is much appreciated. Thanks for letting me rant lol!

Hey there, could you guys show me what you two discussed? I see you private messaged. I'm just wondering because I'm about to enter into an MSW program this fall '12 and I was originally going to do an entry level masters in nursing last year...well I was going to continue taking pre-requisites and I did finish a CNA course so I can sit for the california state certification now if I want, but then I had a change of heart and found out about social work and also want to be a licensed clinical social worker. I love science and health and still find myself on the allnurses boards as you can see lol...so a part of me still is thinking "Well maybe after my MSW, I'll do an ADN", or "Should I just suck it up and realize that I shouldn't have stopped taking pre-requisites in nursing and go back to doing that since they pay-off will be quicker than doing an MSW first just to continue with an ADN later..." And to the comment way up there about how there's no such thing as "social work nurse", I'm pretty sure they meant basically "case management nursing" etc. because obviously there is such a thing as social work nursing and that's what case management is: Nursing + Case management. Just saying since it seemed silly to mention there's no such thing without clearly saying anything about CM nursing.

I'm someone looking into those entry level masters in nursing after completing a BA degree in Psychology, and yes every single program that is in California makes you take all of the prerequisite courses in order to even apply, so all of my prerequisites will be done for any ADN OR accelerated BSN once I'm ready to apply to those entry MSN programs. Therefore you can apply to ALL since they are literally all so competitive now! Another thing to point out is that while Mkjh mentioned that they are wary of those programs, it's not as if you get out working in a position as an Masters level nurse would! By no means would anyone hire anyone with an entry level MSN in an MSN position right out of graduate school, you have to work for usually at least 2 years if not 5 before landing one of those jobs...it's not any different than what everyone else has to do to work their way up, in a health care setting it's always experience that decides one person over another (and of course the bias of who knows who...unfortunately) but yeah so just to clear that up, it's not something to be wary about, one would still work as an RN for a while and build some experience under their belt in a specialty area, but since they did both their RN and MSN together, they wouldn't have to worry about going back again to school once it's time to move on up! And THAT's why I would pick it as my number one choice of a program if someone thinks they want that option later on.

Alrighty, thanks for the info. I did read another forum on here that said pretty much the same thing, with everyone elaborating on that fact and agreeing for the most part. That's good to know and prepare for so it's not like "WHOA!" whenever I end up finishing or getting into first (haha) and then finishing a nursing program.

Hey there, anyone having any better hopes for the nursing jobs in SoCal? I have a while (still working for the next year on my last prerequisites) until I apply for school, so it would be more like 3 years at the least before I actually work as an RN, but I plan to work as a CNA. Would be nice to see how things are a year later though! Thanks!

Hey @ Doggymama23 and Wrightnurs, could you elaborate on the things you've heard about the difficulties to find a nursing job at the present? Everything I've heard and researched about California is that we have a huge nursing shortage and in the next ten years we'll have a tremendous need for nurses that will devastate our public healthcare system. I'm confused why it would be hard to find a job in nursing right now when I know there is a big need for nurses? I understand to land a great job you might have to move a little here or there or make certain sacrafices, but I see nursing job advertised all over the 8 southern california counties. Let me know what's really going on if this is wrong?

Hey guys, Thanks a lot! That helped. While I cannot say that I have 45K in savings!(way to go! that's awesome), and my GPA isn't as high as your guys'...I can say that I have 3.5 years working in a healthcare field with children and adults with disabilities (mental and physical), and I evetually want to be a psych nurse practitioner so that helps me I hope. Also as I said I'm signed up for a certified nursing assistant program this summer, so hopefully I can land a job that while it will pay hardly anything, I'll be able to work for 1.5 years and see what nursing is really like, so I'm looking foreward to that..even though I know it'll be more or less phsically doing what I already have experience with but I'll be in a hospital setting for the first time instead of out patient/home/afterschool etc. It's so neat to see what everyone's life experience is! Thanks for your guys' input I really appreciate it :)

Hi everyone, Congratulations to all of you who just got into the CSUN ABSN for this year! Would any of you mind letting me know what your overall GPA was from your first degree, and your prerequisite GPA or science GPA, as well as experience in the field or volunteering. Any info. is much appreciated. It's so tough out there now days getting into these programs so it'd be good to see if there's any fluctuations at all with acceptance, like if you have a lesser GPA but a lot of experience if that matters or not. I'm a psychology major who's currently taking my prerequisites for nursing. I won't be applying until next fall (2012), because I'm going to be taking my last science prerequisites while working hopefully as a CNA and one or two courses at a time. I'll be applying to as many programs (Entry MSN/Accelerated BSN/RN) as I have money to next year! Thanks!