RN TO PA

[anhela]

Has anyone done the RN TO PA transition especially in the ER?

I Just want some basic info about the transition. How is the PA program? are you still able to work as a RN while going through with the PA program? is the pay difference huge? do you get to do more procedures? just something i am considering and would like everyone's input on it.

[samirish]

I know there is a student doctor forum...in case you dont get many answers here, you may want to check there.

Best Wishes

[beckster_01, BSN, RN]

Just curious, why are you choosing RN to PA instead of NP? It seems that it would be a smoother transition. Do NP's not do as much in the ED?

[NeoPediRN]

I was accepted into PA school this year, but had to decline due finances. You can keep your RN, but working through PA school is almost impossible. You're in school 5 days a week, many programs require you to do a distance rotation. Just so you know, the RN and PA role are NIGHT and DAY. I think you should research more before deciding either way. PAs write orders under their supervising physician, and their scope of practice is limited by both the state they live in and their supervising physician. Some PAs can intubate, start central lines, run codes. Nurses hands on tasks in the ED involve starting peripheral IVs, inserting Foleys, patient education, titrating drips, hanging meds, cardiac monitoring, administering meds, etc....they are two very different roles and the procedures are on different levels. Not comparable at all. The pay difference is variable depending on your state. In my state nurses make in the mid to high 50s base and PAs make around 75k to start. I strongly encourage you to research further on your own.

[jesskidding, LPN]

Why not go the NP route?

[ImThatGuy, BSN, RN]

try this:

physicianassistantforum.com

[highlandlass1592, BSN, RN]

I have quite a few PA's on my team and they concur that it is near impossible to go to school and work. They all strictly worked their programs when they were in school. As a side note, something I wasn't aware of: PA's have to retake their licensing exam every, I think it's 6 years (don't quote me on that) whereas nurses do not. I'm not blasting your decision to become a PA, just wasn't sure if you were aware of that.

As to what the PA can do is really dependent upon state and where you work. The PA's I work with are capable of doing things like pleural taps and line placement but don't, they send them off to procedure labs. It's interesting that in some ways, they are only limited by their own desires (our surgeons would let them do more) but they choose not to. We do have PA's that work in our OR's but the ones I work with are strictly in charge of floor management of the surgeons patients.

[whichone'spink, BSN, RN]

Some people might choose to go the PA route if they still want to remain in a specialty area. I have hardly seen NPs in the hospital in the specialties such as ICU or ER. The hospital I work at utilizes only PAs.

[nola1202]

The prereqs are basic premed, why not just go to medical school? Just a thought. sometimes these certification programs are just as hard as the full degree so.....whatever you decide congratulations for continuing your education and thank you, you may take care of me one day...that includes everyone on this forum.

[Munch]

Some people might choose to go the PA route if they still want to remain in a specialty area. I have hardly seen NPs in the hospital in the specialties such as ICU or ER. The hospital I work at utilizes only PAs.

Same with where I work. I actually don't see many NP's around the hospital at all. We do have PA's everywhere around the hospital, mostly in the ED and OR.

[LG1137]

I just wanted to add that the best primary care provider that I have ever seen for my own health matters, bar none, is a PA.

[beckster_01, BSN, RN]

It's interesting to see the differences in each hospital. Where I work there is virtually no difference between a PA and an NP. On my floor we have 4 NP's who place pleural tubes, pull pacing wires, fill out discharges, and "train" the residents. NP's and PA's staff the ICU across the hall 24/7 so if we ever have any issues at night we are calling them, they are our own personal RRT. Since they don't rotate through services like the residents they have far more expertise than the resident on call would (of course in an emergency we are calling the resident, but since the ICU is our code team they would probably be called first). I am not aware of any PA's that work in the OR, but since my floor deals with cardiac/vascular surgery I wouldn't come across any of them anyways. However, my friend is a PA and did rotations in general surgery at another hospital.

Our medicine patients are covered by one of 6 teams. 5 of them are residents who report to their attending, and there is an MLP team who also reports to an attending (which is obviously made of NP's and PA's). I don't know much about mid-levels in the ED except that if I admit a medicine patient at night then they are covered by an R3 until they get assigned to a team in the morning.

So, where I work NP's and PA's have essentially the same role. Both do procedures, both work in specialty areas. The difference is that if you ever got sick of working inpatient, then you would have a TON more flexibility and freedom of you were an NP as an outpatient provider. Before you start over with your schooling make sure you thoroughly research the difference, because it is so much easier to go from RN to NP.