incrediblehulk2016

Well this was a great discussion from two diffferent viewpoints... Thank you all for you're responses !!! Keep on posting if you have something to add

No I do understand, I've known people who have done it, and worked with many who fell at the feet of Nursing Theory is incredibly hard, in fact, the Nursing Model was the reason why I stayed clear of Nursing, people definetly know this. A lot of people dont get that when youre a nurse, you're not just simply treating the patient and getting the heck out of there, you're responsible for every single thing with that patient as a nurse from psychosocially to physically as well as being responsible for everyone else's jobs as well....RN's need to know how to question other people's jobs....plus RN's can be called upon to do the PT, OT, RT, and even support/ Counseling. Those ADN and BSN programs are a physical and mental grind....you will be pushed to your limit for sure. I know some people who aspire to want to go to med school, and think....hmm maybe I should go to Nursing School instead so it would look great on my Application....like its gonna be a peice of cake or something....HA .....ive seen those students at clinicals...I feel for them. This is another topic for another thread, but I always preferred the medical model myself. It's difficult to get into an NP as well as a PA program, but personally I feel PA school is tougher to get into because there are fewer PA Schools and just way more canidates from many different backgrounds including Nursing as well. Plus many of these programs also reserve 50 to 75% of spots for freshman as well. PA School is just a tighter window, but there is NO DOUBT NP is HARD

I did not intend to make assertions that something is true but more the less predictions of what I believe my opinion is of what may happen.......I apologize for that. I do believe that a BSN will someday become the norm in Nursing.

I wanted to respond to this in its own thread because what you said right here is the #1 reason why I posted here, not to start fights and troll as far as you seem to believe", and I should have just said this from the beginning. "*** PA seems to me like a profession that has truely lost it's way from where it started and why it was created. What would be the point to a doctorate PA program? Why would anyone do a doctorate PA rather than simply go to medical school? PAs don't make very much money to require a doctorate." Absoultely agree and thats my biggest concern actually. I do believe that eventually there will be a movement similar to the DNP movement to go get Doctorate of some sort. and it concerns me. I do disagree that even if the doctorate degree was the required degree for PA's, I believe that many PA's would still go to PA School, and i'd assume it's be similar to the DNP where it would likely be somewhere around 36crs beyond the Masters Cert. But People would choose the doctorate PA over medical school because Med School is still Med School and takes a over a decade of committment and sacrifices. But Yes im greatly concerned that a movement like this will follow considering im already looking at 70k in debt. Now Why did I make the thread about should RT's have it's own Mid Level? It was mainly based off of this concern. The Path to becoming a PA Student is already a pain in the you know what enough. Many of you may completely disagree with me on this but I honestly believe its a lot harder to become a PA than an NP. Why? Because There are way more NP Schools and the NP canidates are competing with other RN's whereas PA's are competing with everyone and anyone who has the proper prereqs. RT's can become PA's but that also doesnt mean that its an easy transition, as I had to fulfill those prereqs such as org chem, and multiple Biology, Physics, and Calculus courses. I wasnt certain that I would get into PA School with my stats of 3.58 gpa (3.63 sciences, and 4 years experience as a Respiratory Therapist, 1 as a lead therapist, and certified in Pulmonary Function. I was so skeptical i'd get in that I literally thought about applying to an accelerated BSN program and then applying to NP School. I know plenty of RT's who only want to be RN's so they can be CRNA's. So I thought to myself a few days ago/......how much easier would it have been if RT had its own Mid Level Provider that allowed me to make an easier transition similar to Nurses with the NP. for me to be a Cardiopulmonary PA/ Pulmonologist Assistant? And why shouldn't they? I mean RT's tackle some of the most challenging situations around and have a vast wealth of training with Cardiopulmonary, so why not make it even more vast, and expand it's scope of practice and making it more of a physican extender? And Lastly, is there a need? You dont think there is? I STRONGLY Disagree. I think there is a strong shortage on the horizion looming for PULMONOLOGISTS among many other physician types and actually could be one of the most heavily affected specialties. A Mid Level Provider could help bridge the gap and who'd be better to bridge that gap then Respiratory Care? We're all on the same team here, so im apologize if you thought i was a troll, but this is really just a matter of speculation, idea sharing and discussion. Nurses, Resp Care, PA's, MD's, PT's, Rad Tech, Radiation Therapy....no matter who you are or what you do, we are all going to play a role in healthcare in the future. Nurses play a huge role in healthcare, I just think to address these upcoming physician shortages, that Respiratory Care is equipped to handle more responsibility and it should.

To Respond, you clearly have misunderstood and misinterpreted everything I have said. It's ok, it happens, lots of words tossed out there, some get overlooked/ missed. I am NOT supporting "degree inflation" or saying that BSN's are better than ADN's or that DPT's are better than Masters educated PT's.......... but like you said it's an opinion, and if I mislead you, I apologize, .....but its my opinion that I personally believe that some changes and advancements will happen in the future to both Nursing and Respiratory Care To respond to another part of your post: *** In what way has degree inflation "advanced" those professions? What can the doctoraly prepared PTs do that the master prepared could not do? How much more are doctorate prepared PTs paid vs masters prepared PTs? Please explain how those professions who have required a doctorate have advanced." I said: "seems to be doing everything humanly possible" to "try" keyword is "try" to advanced their professions. And I actually was trying to say that even though professions go on movements to advance, they dont always prove "necessary" or "worth-it". I 100% completely and totally agree with you...... PT's have doctorate level education but has the respect come with it? No! Pay Increase? Hardly? I also must say I love... I mean really love your term of : DEGREE INFLATION!!!! if there was ever a word that summed it up better about some of these "movements" to try and mandate or require further education. And your also absolutely right about the profession going BSRT: It's the #1 thing that current RT's ask? Are we getting a pay increase? The answer to that will be a big N-O! BTW I think Nurses are paid ok for going through a two year community college program as well! At my former facility where I worked before PA School, I started out at 21.50/hr and the ceiling was 32.00 to my knowledge.....Nurses started out at 3-4 dollars more and had a higher ceiling at around 40. So i'd say they're both pretty well paid.....And I was always amazed at how much money those Radiation Therapists made However for RT's it all depends on your location and facility. I DO NOT know this as a fact but I have heard that anywhere that is located in the Northeast, Pacific Northwest, and Northern Midwest tend to pay better and gain more respect than RT's in the south.

Thank you for the input!

There are also Radiologist Assistants for Rad Techs and Radiation Therapists with B.S degrees to pursue advanced practice

"What would these proposed new titles for RTs mean? What would RTs be able to do that would be different from what they do now?" Good Question: This is also speculation and proposed idea, but there is a movement upon the NBRC and AARC with the RT profession that started my bridge into PA school and that im ever so thankful for. RT will make a strong push to go BSRT and try to develop Advanced Practice RT's of the future. There are definetly changes coming to the profession for the better within the next 10-15 years. What will these new titles mean exactly? As such, the respiratory therapist of the future will focus more on patient assessment, care plan development, protocol administration, disease management and rehabilitation, and patient and family education, and most importantly prescribing medications, and not just a task-oriented technical field, focused on procedures and the technical aspects of oxygen and aerosol therapy, mechanical ventilatory support, and related diagnostic and monitoring techniques. The goal will be the same as every mid-level provider, there's shortages all over the place in healthcare/ medicine, especially with an aging population, many of which suffer from respiratory complications and it's just another method to alleviate them. Is it going to happen tommorrow? No, it's going to be some time.......before it does happen, but the main question im asking is: Do you think it would be beneficial to healthcare for the future to bridge physican shortage gaps in general to have Advanced Practice RT's/ Cardiopulmonary PA's and Critical Care Specialists?

CRNA's do not practice independently in every states. Most states still require Physician direction. However in 16 states, they do practice independently, and other states could opt out of this requirement of MD supervision. A.A's do not that, they MUST practice under an MD's direction. However, The AA profession is the newest kid on the block, but more than likely, additional states will allow AA to practice within them. Is the CRNA the cousin of the A.A sure is? I said cousin not identical twin! There is some overlap however, there are vast differences of course 1. AAs and CRNAs make the same money when they work in the same hospital in ACT practices. 2. Scope of practice for CRNAs and AAs is different. CRNAs can and do work independently in some states, 16 to date. CRNAs are the oldest nursing speciality in the US. CRNAs can provide the exact same anesthetic services/care that an anesthesiologist does. AAs on the other hand have extremely limited scope of practice. AAs usually are not trained/cannot do any kind of regional techniques. Personally on this subject, I think it's dangerous for a CRNA to be able to practice independently of MD's because CRNA Does not= Anesthesiologist

There is no requirement that I know of yet, but there is definetly a strong movement for that. By 2015 it's reccomended that NP programs make the transition to the DNP, but we'll see. I think it's too much too soon?

I was more the less speculating for discussion purposes. I know I made it sound like an absolute fact!, I am sorry for the misunderstanding.! I do think a time will come when my field of PA's and my mid level counterparts in NP's will have a doctorate level entry degree. As for right this moment, the DNP is a "reccomendation" Not only are these programs popping up all over the place at you suggest, but in my area of Upstate NY, some universities have been replacing the masters level certificated with DNP programs and thus retiring them. If Physical Therapy can do it, I have no reason to believe that it will happen to PA's and NP's as well. As far as the BSN thing, i'd have to disagree on that. In fact, I think now more than ever that movement is gaining more momentum as well as the BSRT movement but nowhere near on the same level. Maybe it depends on where you are? But in NY, its coming. NY and NJ are considering the "BSN in 10" which would require newly licenced RNs to complete the BSN within ten years. There are COUNTRIES which require a baccalaureate degree in order to practice nursing they are: Canada, Sweden, Portugal, Brazil, Iceland, Korea, Greece, and Philippines. Research indicates that levels of nursing education are associated with patient outcomes.

I know this is primarily a nursing forum, but Respiratory and RRT/RN dual title holders are also very prominent in this forum, but me being an RRT/and current PA student, I have an interest in this particular question: Every profession in allied health has been trying to do everything humanly possible to try and advanced their professions (Except Radiology it seems), PT now requires a doctorate to practice, PA's will soon follow the NP's whom are also going to require the doctorate to practice at an advance level and for RN's, the entry level degree will now be the BSN. For respiratory the profession will also eventually go BSRT just like Nursing is, and by 2015 the CRT exam will be retired. There also has been talk about the possibility of giving RT its own mid level provider possibly called a CPP or Cardiopulmonary Practicioner or ACPS- Advanced Cardiopulmonary specialist, and also trying to expand the reach of the current and much lesser known cousin to the CRNA in the anesthesiologist assistant, which only has 37 states that use A.A's and only a handful of programs in the country. What do you think of the prospect of giving RRT's its own mid level provider similar to the NP or PA? I'd love to hear from anyone but particularly RRT-RN's on here

Hello, I am interested in becoming a LNHA someday years down the road and I am currently a respiratory therapist in the Rochester, NY area. Ive been moving up the management ladder the past couple years and now the clinical manager of my department at my hospital. I have a masters in Biology and am finishing up my MHA. My general question is, i've been wondering if you need to have an RN lisence to be a LNHA? Ive heard of some non-nurses holding those positions.