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I am a nurse- PA or NP?


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Hey guys! 
I am wondering whether you think I should go to PA or NP school. I’ve been a nurse for 6 months and have around 1,000 hours of experience, and I want to apply in April (1600ish hours at that point) to both PA and NP school. 
 

Reason why I want to go to PA school is because of the vigorous curriculum, and from what I’ve heard, NP school seems like a joke. someone told me her teacher told the class “fake it till you make it” and then she dropped out cuz she felt very ill-prepared to be a provider. I just don’t have years and years of nursing experience to provide me with a good foundation for NP school. Would PA be a better route? The only thing is with PA school is that my undergrad GPA was only a 3.2 and my nursing GPA was a 3.6. Will my experience of being a nurse help me get into school? I guess I could always apply to a bunch of PA programs and if I don’t get in, go to NP school. 

Side note- I want to work in dermatology.

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Talking to nurses interested in the PA route always comes down to the multiple pros and the understandably the biggest con. 

Pros: Better "medical" education. You already have good experience and the "medical" model will build on it immensely. You'll be a great provider. More lateral mobility. And stronger guaranteed clinical sites (vs most NP schools that make you find your own clinical sites)

The Big Con: You won't be able to work much or at all during PA school, so it'll be a much more expensive and challenging endeavor.

It usually boils down to your financial status, which most of the time includes responsibilities at home.

Sidenote: CASPA averages all your GPA(s) from every single college course and populates a cumulative GPA and a science GPA. Nursing courses count as science courses. So I think your GPA will be on the average side. Your patient care experience will definitely separate you from the bunch. If you do decide PA, make sure you know how to articulate why you chose the PA route over the NP route. I think if you apply to around 5 schools you will have a good chance.

 

 

Edited by Endeavor
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Disclaimer - I'm not an NP.

If you look up Why PA or 101 PA questions, Why PA vs NP comes up a lot.  The answer is based on what you want to do, however from a learning / career expectation there appear to be the differences.

 

Learning:  NP will get Nurse Training, PA will get Doctor training (from the approach). 

Career:  A NP is trained in the field they will work in.  Moving between specialties is difficult since all your training is specific.   A PA is cross trained and can adapt across careers easier.

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Quick question, how much $$$ did you spend to become a nurse? 

No matter what path you choose, you're not going to be fully prepared to assume the provider role, and your preceptor isn't going to expect you to hit the ground running. You have to put in the work. Either training will allow you to be a "safe" novice provider, although the training PAs receive exceeds NP training based on curriculum and hours of clinical experience. 

But one cannot bank on that. You have to be willing to put in the extra hours to learn the job (and be aware of knowing that you don't know everything early on in your career). Nursing (BSN) school taught me how to be safe...and not an irresponsible practitioner. It was my time in the ER that taught me how to function as a nurse. How to communicate with providers, how to safely carryout my nursing duties, and how to critically think. 

That said, I work with some tremendous PAs, and I also work with some excellent NPs. Choose a path that fits YOUR needs and not what some online forum say. You're the one footing the bill and time required to successfully pass your boards.

It also sounds like you're just barely off orientation and already thinking about jumping ship. Are you at the bedside?

Edited by Diggy
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  • 4 weeks later...
On 10/21/2019 at 12:29 PM, Diggy said:

Quick question, how much $$$ did you spend to become a nurse? 

No matter what path you choose, you're not going to be fully prepared to assume the provider role, and your preceptor isn't going to expect you to hit the ground running. You have to put in the work. Either training will allow you to be a "safe" novice provider, although the training PAs receive exceeds NP training based on curriculum and hours of clinical experience. 

But one cannot bank on that. You have to be willing to put in the extra hours to learn the job (and be aware of knowing that you don't know everything early on in your career). Nursing (BSN) school taught me how to be safe...and not an irresponsible practitioner. It was my time in the ER that taught me how to function as a nurse. How to communicate with providers, how to safely carryout my nursing duties, and how to critically think. 

That said, I work with some tremendous PAs, and I also work with some excellent NPs. Choose a path that fits YOUR needs and not what some online forum say. You're the one footing the bill and time required to successfully pass your boards.

It also sounds like you're just barely off orientation and already thinking about jumping ship. Are you at the bedside?

I totally agree with you that your education/experience is what you put into it! I just do not want to feel like I have to do absolutely everything in school, especially pick my own clinical sites (heard that can be a nightmare). I also didn’t spend any money on becoming a nurse (my mom is a saint and paid for it, and will also be paying for PA school). 
 

I work on a surgical tele floor, so yes, bedside. I’ve been off orientation for almost 5 months now. I am a very quick learner and already feel like I want to move on, but that is also because I don’t really like nursing which is rushing me into the application process. Rushing is not the smartest answer, but I also know for a fact PA is what I want to do so idk why I should wait. I picked PA route if you couldn’t tell:)

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5 hours ago, areaz123 said:

I totally agree with you that your education/experience is what you put into it! I just do not want to feel like I have to do absolutely everything in school, especially pick my own clinical sites (heard that can be a nightmare). I also didn’t spend any money on becoming a nurse (my mom is a saint and paid for it, and will also be paying for PA school). 
 

I work on a surgical tele floor, so yes, bedside. I’ve been off orientation for almost 5 months now. I am a very quick learner and already feel like I want to move on, but that is also because I don’t really like nursing which is rushing me into the application process. Rushing is not the smartest answer, but I also know for a fact PA is what I want to do so idk why I should wait. I picked PA route if you couldn’t tell:)

I agree as well, NP school is notorious for forcing their students to find their own preceptors. This is why I refuse to apply to any of the programs that do this. 

Floor nursing is rough, I couldn't do it. It sounds like you want to function at the highest level of your credentials and floor nursing ain't it. That's why I love the ER and will never leave unless it's to be an urgent care nurse.

As for wanting to move on, that's okay, but keep in mind that being a RN and a NP are two different things. NP is more similar to PA than it is to their predecessor, RN. You might not like RN but you might like NP.

But from your post it seems you rather be a PA and that's also okay. Research different PA programs and see how many PCE you have acquired from being a RN since that's considered high quality experience.

 

Good luck!

 

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  • 2 years later...

As a future nurse, I am closer to the second option, the nurse practitioner option. Because NPSs are advanced practice registered nurses and intermediate level nurse practitioners. NPSs are trained to assess patient needs, order and interpret diagnostic and laboratory tests, diagnose diseases and make and prescribe treatment plans. NP training covers basic disease prevention, care coordination, and health promotion. To that end, I enrolled at Benedictine University as a case management nurse through https://www.hashtagnursing.com/career-guide/case-management-nurse/ a year and a half ago. And now I look forward to my practical work.

Edited by PriciBlue
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the PA route will give you a better education and prepare you to practice medicine with your pts. you won’t be able to work for 2 yrs and lose 2 years income. 2000 clinical hours  , end of rotation exam after every rotation. most pa schools are private, and each only accepts 23-97 students per year. $80k at least for a program and it feels like a rocket ship diactic year. 

 

np route will be more nursing theory classes, more how the pt reacts rather than diagnosis. only 700 clinical hrs. find your own clinical hours.  weaker education. you’ll probably have to shadow an md to learn and be competent cause you don’t know what you dont know.  you could work and do everything online.

i went to both pa and nursing school. i honestly prefer the medical model but i know the np route will open more doors because employers prefer to hire 1 employee rather than 2 as a pa(requires dsa agreement and an md)  114k job openings for nps, pas about 40k  

 you have your  rn to fall back on so youre in a good spot. you can’t go wrong either way. you’ll be a strong candidate for pa school but just be prepared to apply to more programs and fly our for interviews. feel free to ama

Edited by hustleforthePAC
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