Did anyone consider nursing before PA (long)

[JRaffo]

I know this topic has been discussed to some degree already but I would truly appreciate input from any PA’s or PA students who considered nursing school or worked as nurses prior to entering a PA program:

After considering a career change to nursing (from IT/support), downsizing in my company gave me the impetus to get my feet wet and start taking prerequisites for nursing (A&P I&II, micro, chem. etc) and I have never been so excited to study anything in my life—I am truly amazed and excited by the A&P, Micro, and to a lesser extent, Chem.


My dilemma now is that I am poised to start an accelerated BSN program next semester but understand that nursing curriculum turns away from the scientific perspective and focuses on practical matters and administration (which are of course super important but not what really excites me). I want to attempt to go to PA school because I want to learn the fascinating science behind the diagnosis, and I think being involved in diagnosis and treatment would be so energizing, while at the same time providing possibly even more meaningful patient care opportunities than being an RN. Not to mention, it seems that RN’s overwhelmingly complain about their job, where although PA’s work longer hours, they seem to love it.


Adding to the dilemma is the fact that I am already 33 and would need another year of prereqs and to even be able to apply to a PA program, whereas I can start an accelerated nursing program in June. Like many posts I have seen, my college GPA from 2001 (in Journalism/Business) is on the low side at 2.75, although I have been getting all A’s in my prereq’s so far, and I don’t have medical experience, so I worry about my chances of getting accepted to a program (although I need a break from the work-school-sleep-work grind, I think I should be able to continue to do well in pre-req classes, so hopefully this could make up for my less than stellar undergrad GPA).


Has anyone faced a similar dilemma on the nature of these two professions, or been in a similar position as far as getting into a program and had success?


Any frank input would be greatly appreciated!

[tootie]

I know this topic has been discussed to some degree already but I would truly appreciate input from any PA’s or PA students who considered nursing school or worked as nurses prior to entering a PA program:

After considering a career change to nursing (from IT/support), downsizing in my company gave me the impetus to get my feet wet and start taking prerequisites for nursing (A&P I&II, micro, chem. etc) and I have never been so excited to study anything in my life—I am truly amazed and excited by the A&P, Micro, and to a lesser extent, Chem.


My dilemma now is that I am poised to start an accelerated BSN program next semester but understand that nursing curriculum turns away from the scientific perspective and focuses on practical matters and administration (which are of course super important but not what really excites me). I want to attempt to go to PA school because I want to learn the fascinating science behind the diagnosis, and I think being involved in diagnosis and treatment would be so energizing, while at the same time providing possibly even more meaningful patient care opportunities than being an RN. Not to mention, it seems that RN’s overwhelmingly complain about their job, where although PA’s work longer hours, they seem to love it.


Adding to the dilemma is the fact that I am already 33 and would need another year of prereqs and to even be able to apply to a PA program, whereas I can start an accelerated nursing program in June. Like many posts I have seen, my college GPA from 2001 (in Journalism/Business) is on the low side at 2.75, although I have been getting all A’s in my prereq’s so far, and I don’t have medical experience, so I worry about my chances of getting accepted to a program (although I need a break from the work-school-sleep-work grind, I think I should be able to continue to do well in pre-req classes, so hopefully this could make up for my less than stellar undergrad GPA).


Has anyone faced a similar dilemma on the nature of these two professions, or been in a similar position as far as getting into a program and had success?


Any frank input would be greatly appreciated!

I have been an RN for 15 years now. Go for PA. RN education is a joke, very limited on sciences and heavy on nursing theory and care of the patient. The role of RN's is very limited, and if you have a brain in your head you will be extremely frustrated by being an RN. I work in emergency medicine and it kills me that I have a BS degree and the PA I frequently work with has a BS degree from the same school, yet I am the one putting people in rooms, setting him up, and cleaning up after him. I picked the wrong BS degree, and he chose the better degree. Yes, RN experience is great for applying to PA school, but you can get other health care experience. Nursing has it's value, but if want to be the caregiver and collect the pieces of the puzzle to give to the MD/PA, go RN. if you want to put together the pieces of the puzzle and be the problem solver go PA.

You said be frank

[med218]

Have you actually shadowed any PAs, MDs, RNs, etc... to see if you would be happy following through on any of these careers. You stated you have no medical experience, what made you want to switch careers and go into nursing in the first place? I think that it would be beneficial for you to do some shadowing prior to investing alot into medicine and finding it's not the field for you.

As for my experience, I come from a fire/ems background and have worked off and on in ems for almost 10 years. I also worked in an ICU as a CNA for approximately 1 1/2 years and currently work for my hospital's critical care transport team. I did have a low undergraduate GPA, but my post-baccalaureate GPA was really good and it seemed as though the admission committees liked the upward trend. Some did mention and talk about my low grades (primarily from my first year of undergrad.), but it was quite some time ago and the upward trend in grades coupled with a recommendation from a science professor demonstrated that those days were in my past.

[JRaffo]

Thank You so much! That is exactly the insight I'm hopong to hear, thanks for your honesty.

If any other have any experience with this I'd appreciate your $.02!

[Jambi]

I wrote off being an RN after hearing terms like, "failure to thrive."

[Arkansas Ranger]

I wrote off being an RN after hearing terms like, "failure to thrive."

I did when I realized the focus was on "caring" rather than treatment.

[JRaffo]

Thanks Med218,

I did shadow in an OR but only for a day, but I really enjoyed what I saw. I liked the teamwork between the doctors and the nurses and saw in action/spoke with the first response nurse and the nurse-anesthetist, both positions really appealed to me. But, it seems like being a PA would open more doors to being more hands on?

[Firedog43]

I have a background in Fire/EMS for the last 8 years. My goal was to become a PA early in my career as a firemedic. Due to having two young children, and having a single income. I decided to pursue the ARNP track instead , because the program is in my hometown. I would have to quit working to pursue PA, and so I decided on ARNP because I would be able to work and go to school.


I am currently working as a RN. I have been able to see both sides, and the PA field is more appealing.

Good luck on your decision, FD

[chiaroscuro27]

I briefly considered going the nursing route. I thank God everyday that I didn't. I don't think it would challenge me, and I prefer to focus on disease and treatment, rather than "caring" and pushing drugs.

[Arkansas Ranger]

I briefly considered going the nursing route. I thank God everyday that I didn't. I don't think it would challenge me, and I prefer to focus on disease and treatment, rather than "caring" and pushing drugs.

Finally! Someone else.

[ashnico]

Adding to the dilemma is the fact that I am already 33 and would need another year of prereqs and to even be able to apply to a PA program

you're never too old to start PA school... there are people of ALL AGES in my program... don't let that stop you if thats what you really want.

[piscesnk13]

I went straight from nursing school to PA school. I am techically an RN, but never worked as one. Almost every single day I am thankful for switching. It is very dependent on your personality and level of curiosity. From the sound of your post, it seems like you have a similar curiosity in science and figuring things out like I do and I never felt challenged like that in nursing (even in my short experience with clinicals and working as a nurse extern). Everyone in my class thinks I have such an advantage having gone to nursing school first, but the sad truth is that I hardly learned anything in nursing school that I am now learning in PA school. And to add on what someone said earlier, yes nursing education is a joke and a waste of money. Just go straight for PA, it would be a shame to waste the money and time on nursing just to find out you want more.

[just_me]

am I the only one that thinks because the OP is able to get into an accelerated program they should do that as a precursor to PA school?

OP you could work as an RN while you finish your pre-reqs (if you didnt want to take them while in the program) and if you find that being an RN isnt challenging enough then you would be poised to move on to a PA program. you would have accumulated some hce, have a job to fall back on if you didnt get in the first go around and something to fall back on incase you need to work between graduating from a program and starting a job.

Your overall GPA is low and remember CASPA calculates all attempts--getting good grades in your BSN may help raise your overall GPA

Lastly with a BSN you will find yourself in a unique position of being able to apply to both PA programs and NP programs--that option is great if you find that you want to obtain more responsibility but you cant afford to go into a full time program (PA)--many NP programs allow for work. Plus many hospitals will provide tuiition assistance for an NP program.

You have many options and honestly I probably would have done a BSN (if it didnt take so long) to gain HCE. Its justthat I have been shuffling along so long to add a BSN to my schedule would set me back further than I want

[brianz]

am I the only one that thinks because the OP is able to get into an accelerated program they should do that as a precursor to PA school?

OP you could work as an RN while you finish your pre-reqs (if you didnt want to take them while in the program) and if you find that being an RN isnt challenging enough then you would be poised to move on to a PA program. you would have accumulated some hce, have a job to fall back on if you didnt get in the first go around and something to fall back on incase you need to work between graduating from a program and starting a job.

Your overall GPA is low and remember CASPA calculates all attempts--getting good grades in your BSN may help raise your overall GPA

Lastly with a BSN you will find yourself in a unique position of being able to apply to both PA programs and NP programs--that option is great if you find that you want to obtain more responsibility but you cant afford to go into a full time program (PA)--many NP programs allow for work. Plus many hospitals will provide tuiition assistance for an NP program.

You have many options and honestly I probably would have done a BSN (if it didnt take so long) to gain HCE. Its justthat I have been shuffling along so long to add a BSN to my schedule would set me back further than I want

I think the OP should map out both options and determine what gets him to his goal. Also, remember that there are differences (varies by state) between PA and NP. Now, if he wants to be a FP clinician the differences are very minimal in most states, but other specialties are more available to him/her as a PA than as a NP.

Since I live in a town with a RN program (ADN) and my fiancee was about to enter the program I strongly considered going that route (ADN --> BSN --> NP) instead of PA. I could have done it without having to relocate the family, etc. Lots of upside, and we considered it both ways. However, as was mentioned by several posters earlier, the 'nursing model' vs 'medical model' turned me off, and after having seen the nursing program through my fiancee's eyes, I'm very glad I didn't choose that option. That doesn't mean that some nursing programs aren't good background, or that being an RN wouldn't be good HCE experience, just that it wouldn't have been a good path for me to get to my ultimate goal.

In my case the two paths looked like this:
RN path ---
ADN (2 yr)
BSN (2-3 yrs) while working as RN
NP (3-4 yrs) figuring the programs will all be DNP by then.
Total: (7-9 yrs)
Pros: 9 years from now the youngest will be out of HS, so we won't have moved while they are in school. Schools don't seem to be very competitive to get into. Less debt built up this way.
Cons: Much of that 9 years will be in programs I will be very frustrated in. First two years in a very dysfunctional program.

PA path ---
BS/Cell (3 yrs)
PA program (2-3 yrs) depending on if I take a year between for more HCE
Total (5-6 yrs)
Pros: Faster, better quality of education (IMHO)
Cons: Have to move or be away from kids for 2 years. Very few seats in programs nearby. Higher Debt.

Oh, and yes I already have some HCE, and continuing to get more experience while I'm in school getting my BS degree so that makes the PA route much shorter than the RN/NP route for me. That might not be the case for the OP or others. I only show this so that others can understand that the OP has options and should consider both options.

[just_me]

If the OP is coming from IT I dont think they do have any hce which means that RN experience is useful.

My post wasnt to say that the OP should go the NP route....what I said was that the OP has a great opportunity to get in an RN program and use that to obtain some worthwhile experience (hce) as opposed to becoming a CNA or EMT. As Im sure you know, in some areas a RN student can start working as PCT after the 1st or 2nd semester and some schools consider the clinical aspect of the program as hce.

Going the RN will give the OP two options....either PA or NP which is one more option than those of us who do not have a BSN.

Im aware of the availibility of certain specialties to PAs and NPs afterall Ive been after this career for quite some time and that is up to the opt to decide as well as if the PA or NP route is best for them, but my post was really empasizing how that RN degree will be helpful

I think the OP should map out both options and determine what gets him to his goal. Also, remember that there are differences (varies by state) between PA and NP. Now, if he wants to be a FP clinician the differences are very minimal in most states, but other specialties are more available to him/her as a PA than as a NP.