I am interested in entering the healthcare field, but am unsure of which route to take. I want something that would be great for a woman with children, which can have good hours if needed, and not the highest amount of stress, with great pay. The three areas that I am deciding amongst are an RN, Occupational Therapist, and Physician Assistant. I am leaning more toward the first two. Please help me and provide unbiased opinions! thank you so much!
Great hours, great pay, and low stress? I'm not sure you'll be able to meet all of those criteria. You also mention something that works well with having children. PA is going to take you awhile, seeing as you need almost all of the same req's as needed for medical school. OT or RN would be shorter amount of education, but still usually intense courses of study. As for the comment about not "wasting your time on a 2 yr RN," I'm curious what is meant by that. If you did an ADN program and immediately started a bridge program, you would get your BSN in the same amount of time, all while being able to work as a nurse sooner. I'm not trying to start the ADN vs BSN debate here (so I'll keep my other comments to myself). Just making the point that getting the ADN isn't "wasting" any time. And for someone that isn't sure what they want to do in healthcare, it would give them an opportunity to see if they like nursing, without as much of an educational commitment.
I want something that would be great for a woman with children, which can have good hours if needed, and not the highest amount of stress, with great pay. The three areas that I am deciding amongst are an RN, Occupational Therapist, and Physician Assistant. I am leaning more toward the first two.
The initial time investment in these professions will be the most stressful part. RN will require at least a year of prerequisites and another two years after acceptance into a program. You could start with the minimal entry level degree (ADN) and get a job while finishing the BSN. But, that is another factor to add to your time equation for the family. After the BSN you can choose to continue to NP which presently is a Masters degree but will be a Doctorate by the time you finish the initial education to get you started in nursing.
All of these programs may also have a two year waiting list just to get started.
OT will require at least 6 years (Masters degree) of full time college. Many OTs now have Doctorates just like the Physical Therapists. For some states the Masters is a requirement for the PA as well. With the time factored in for studying, that may cut into the quality time with your children but the rewards might be worth it. Of course, this will also depend on how good you are at time management. Many people successfully take a full college course load and still find plenty of time for the family.
OT will have its own stresses from peer reviews and productivity management that goes along with the Coding and Billing. Their charting process is very meticulous and lengthy for CMS standards. Nursing is also but for different reasons. For OT you must prove what you are doing is worthy of reimbursement. But, as an OT you can also go into private practice. However, that also comes with its own set of headaches. OTs, as with many of the other therapy professions, get some training and education for customer service which also helps them appear less stressed in public. However, I've been to closed door multidisciplinary meetings where they drop the "on stage" appearance and take a serious beating from Rehab doctors (Physiatrists) or other attendings when things aren't going well with meeting patient goals and productive hours.
For PA, it depends on if you want to specialize and where you want to work. My hospital uses surgical PAs who take call for the physicians. These PAs work long hours and lose the sleep that the doctors would if the PAs were not there for them to take call. For some places, to get a really great position in a competitive profession, you may also need to do a residency in addition to the Masters degree which can be another 18 - 24 months. Of course, there are still states that have very minimal entry level standards for PAs but they also may have very restricted or limited practices under the physicians in that state. Even if a state only requires a minimum amount of education, that can change in the near future very easily since most health care professions have now raised their entry level education and those that have not yet, may have employers who do expect more than just the minimum making the market more competitive. Right now there are unemployed PAs but many of them also have just the bare minimum education/training and are finding the job market very tough.
You can also ask gain more information from the professionals websites for OTs and PAs. Many will have connections to forums and blogs.
I've been sort of in the same quandry. I have a BS in another field. I looked at PA programs near me and there aren't many and they require a year working in the healthcare field before applying and then they are 2 year full time programs. I also looked at Physical Therapy which is a 3 year full time program which requires some observation/volunteer hours before applying.
I want to go the BSN then NP route because it seems that there are a lot of things that you can do as an RN and then various specializations that you can pick up. The 2nd degree BSN programs in my area are either 3 year part time, 2 year full time or 14-16 months accelerated. After that, there are part time programs to become a NP. Overall, it just seems to offer the most flexibility.
I am RN for 23 yrs, currently 54 and enrolled i online RN-MSN program. I love what I do with home health.
If you want to RN , take 2 yr ADN and work to get someone else to help pay for more education.
But my honest opinion I gave my kids and anyone just getting in is go for Physical Therapy Asst. PT is prefferrred but lots of schooling. PTA makes more than me as a 23 yr exp RN i same home health. There work especially in home health is much easier than RN job. They do not seen stressed and seem relaxed and happy!!! Then you also how option of working in a Therapy out patient center, which is great hrs.
If I had to do-over that is what I would do, the job opportunities are much hgher than RN.
There aren't a lot of jobs in healthcare that are low stress and high paying. However, out of all the ones you listed...I'd say go for Occupational Therapy...the OT people never looked that stressed to me.
Not only do OT's not look stressed, everyone I've ever met had a smile on their face.
Not only do OT's not look stressed, everyone I've ever met had a smile on their face.
That's also a large part of their education and training to be motivators for the patients. It is hard to be part of the healing process if you are burnt out and upset with your job everyday. It is difficult enough to encourage a quadriplegic to see that life does go on without that patient also being subjected to a nasty attitude. It is hard enough when the OT may have to tell the patient "realistic" goals and yet, still motivate them to continue with the therapy program. Many times it is a discouraging task for the OT.
People who go into the therapies usually realize they must have a passion to do a specialty field. They have more than just a couple of years in college and many, many hours of clinicals to figure that out if they don't get it when they first enter the program. Nurses can change their focus when the job market is good as often as they desire to do so. Nursing has also made it easy for some to enter the profession who probably shouldn't be a nurse. That can bring down the mood of those who do have true desire with realistic intentions of being a professional RN.
There is only one….. you get about two months vacation work four days a week (two of which are golf days) have a personal assistant for all your needs, and just point your finger at “the staff” because it is obviously their fault the hospital isn’t making any money. Mainly because they are paid too much even if it is just 1/1000 th of what you make. But they have so much more responsibility. Whereas the staff only has the patient’s life to worry about.
So on your next resume under position wanted just put CEO
Sorry just a little humor I couldn’t resist. As mention above the place and team you work with have the biggest affect on satisfaction rather than the actual position.
ObtundedRN, BSN, RN
428 Posts
Great hours, great pay, and low stress? I'm not sure you'll be able to meet all of those criteria. You also mention something that works well with having children. PA is going to take you awhile, seeing as you need almost all of the same req's as needed for medical school. OT or RN would be shorter amount of education, but still usually intense courses of study. As for the comment about not "wasting your time on a 2 yr RN," I'm curious what is meant by that. If you did an ADN program and immediately started a bridge program, you would get your BSN in the same amount of time, all while being able to work as a nurse sooner. I'm not trying to start the ADN vs BSN debate here (so I'll keep my other comments to myself). Just making the point that getting the ADN isn't "wasting" any time. And for someone that isn't sure what they want to do in healthcare, it would give them an opportunity to see if they like nursing, without as much of an educational commitment.