PT vs. Nursing

[casswoo]

I am a 30 year old mom of two, almost three, little ones at a fork in the road for my career and would love to get some perspective from experienced nurses to help with my decision. A bit about me and how I got to where I am now - I got my BS in Psych, have worked in Psychological and Psychiatric research for about 5 years. After my first two babies I started a business as a certified birth doula and certified personal trainer teaching mother/baby fitness classes. After a couple of years I closed my business to go back to school and became a part-time physical therapy technician. Right now I am staying home with my kids but plan on going back to school as soon as I am able- just need to know which classes to take depending on the program I decide on.

I am deciding between physical therapy and nursing. For PT it would take me about 5-6 years to get the DPT with remaining pre-reqs, taking the GRE, the application process, and the 3 year program. I love the health education aspect of PT, learning body work and getting to empower patients to heal their bodies without drugs and surgery whenever possible, however I do worry about getting burnt out/bored after some time in the field because I do have a lot of interests and although you can change settings with PT, it can be challenging to do some specialties (like women's health).

For nursing I am almost done with the pre-reqs so could be able to complete the remaining pre-reqs and either an ASN or BSN in 3 years (both programs where I live are about 2 years and there is not an accelerated BSN available). With nursing I love the idea of supporting and caring for patients during very vulnerable times in their lives and having the flexibility to change specialties as my interests change over the years. Currently I am very interested in women's health and would love to do L&D or mother/baby but am also open to what I would experience during clinicals in nursing school. I also like the option that I could eventually go on to get my APRN or stay as a RN if I find that I love that role. Some of my concerns with nursing include the long shifts, working weekends, holidays or night shift, being disrespected and unappreciated, and getting over a mild case of vasovagal syncope.

I have shadowed a midwife, occupational therapists, and physical therapists and have realized that I would probably feel satisfied with nursing or PT since my passions are helping people and health education. I am hoping that those of you who have been in the nursing world for awhile can provide some insight as I work through this decision. Thank you all!

[FolksBtrippin, BSN, RN]

You are in a very similar situation to the one I was in a few years ago. My background and interests are very similar, but I won't get into details because I like to remain anonymous on this forum.

Nursing is far more flexible than PT. As your interests grow and develop and change, you can move around in nursing and go any direction you like.

I really like my schedule, getting an hourly wage as opposed to a salary and having a pool of prn nurses that happily cover my shifts if I need time off. I also get a lot of PTO. I love working 12s, because I work so few days, but my facility is very flexible and some nurses work 8s.

Where I live, nursing is just a fantastic job. The PTs are not as satisfied. Few people understand how much they know and can do and there just isn't the level of respect they've earned.

[OUxPhys, BSN, RN]

I have a bachelors in Ex Phys and my original plan was to go to PT school but Im glad I did not. For one its insanely competitive. Secondly, they are making PT a doctorate now. Thirdly, PT seems boring....at least if you are doing it inpatient. Plus the scheduling isn't as flexible as nursing. With nursing you can move around to different specialties/areas if you get tired/bored. Honestly the only area where you will be disrespected/under-appreciated is if you work a medsurg/stepdown floor and its usually from patients/patient's family. Expect a lot of ungratefulness. The 12 hour shifts aren't terribly bad. If you do it right you can schedule long breaks off without having to use PTO.

[justwanttohelp12]

A friend of mine was in the same situation. She presented me with much of the same opinions as the commenters in this thread. The cost of DPT programs are steadily increasing every year while wage has been stagnant. As for nursing, there are a lot of different options to obtaining your credentials and cost can be cheap or expensive. In California, a good amount of nurses earn similar salaries compared to DPTs.