Registered nurse vs. Physician Assistant

amother

Powderblue

Wed, Aug 02 2017, 8:19 am

I'm looking into changing careers.

I already have a BA, but it's from 9 years ago. For my BA, I took several science courses already. I'm just wondering if there are accredited 2 year nursing degrees (in NYC)? It might even take me longer than 2 years because I'd also try to work and I have kids! So has anyone tried chancing careers into nursing? What are the requirements to become a registered nurse in nyc? Do I need to take a 4 year degree instead?

I'm also interested in finding out how to become a physician assistant and if the program is more intense than going to nursing school? I haven't decided the right path for me, but maybe if I hear from others and read more about it, I'll decide.

amother

Papaya

Wed, Aug 02 2017, 8:56 am

amother wrote:

There are definitely accelerated rn programs to get your BA in 2 yes, so I wonder if u can do it in less.

amother

Seafoam

Wed, Aug 02 2017, 9:24 am

There are accelerated nursing programs that you can completele in about 15 months.

Something to keep in mind though is that your sciences as prerequisites may have expired. Usually they have to be within 5 years.

I'm a PA and my husband is a nurse (second degree accelerated program). I think my program was more intense. I had up to 12 hour days 5 days a week often having school on Sundays. Plus tons of studying. His program was hard but he had many days that were only a few hours with plenty of time to study. I had several married with kids people in my class. It's definitely hard, especially when you have kids in program. They were allowed to take one week off. It's hard to come back to school with an 8 day old.

amother

Royalblue

Thu, Aug 03 2017, 12:18 am

I am an NP. Scope of practice is similar to PA. I did an accelerated RN program and then a master's. It was doable even with babies. I studied a lot at home. Only regret is I invested way more time in studying and research rather than excelling in clinical which is where you really build your skills.

I agree that PA seems more rigorous with more clinical hours. But since NPs need to be RNs first it probably adds up to the same Amount of time just more spread out. I think pay scale is the same. I find many job listings asking for NP or PA interchangeably.

amother

cornflower

Thu, Aug 03 2017, 9:25 am

A bsn can be obtained in a year. The pay is significantly less than an rn. You can't take your time if you are part of a program. You must go with their schedule. Some people work but it's extremely difficult if you also have a family. If you are looking b to be the main breadwinner go PA. PA have more autonomy and spend much less time at the bedside. They play more of a doctorate role. Nurses are providing care, doing assessments, charting, carrying out doctors orders, and advocating for their pts. Ask people where you live about salary and demand.

mha3484

Thu, Aug 03 2017, 1:38 pm

I am a healthcare recruiter. I work in a variety of settings and the majority of my customers prefer an NP over a PA. I can think of 3 off the bat a large hospice agency, a company that serves long term care facilities and a chain of outpatient clinics and they will only hire NP's. Salary for an NP starts around 90k and goes up from there. PA's typically max out around 90-100k. I also think there are more opportunities as an NP if you want to go into administration one day.

amother

Lavender

Thu, Aug 03 2017, 10:29 pm

mha3484 wrote:

This is somewhat skewed as you staff long term care/hospice which is more NP heavy than pa. The major big city hospital where I work is about 3:1 pa to np, and same in the last big city I worked in. What I'm saying is that what you state is not across the board, but more likely in your experience.

eschaya

Fri, Aug 04 2017, 6:34 am

amother wrote:

Many hospitals will hire PAs because PAs have specific surgical training and can help out in the OR, round for the surgeons, etc.

The truth is that if you are going to go to school only once, and are specifically looking for a higher paying job with more autonomy and responsibility, then PA is probably the way to go, though the schooling is more difficult than RN.
However, if you are open to going back to school (for NP, CRNA, CNM, CNS, administration, informatics, etc) then becoming an RN might be a better first step. You have a decent job, decent pay, and tons of opportunity for advancement, which is not the case for a PA as it is a terminal degree. You may choose to stay as a bedside RN if you really have the personality and passion for it (many do, finding that they prefer being at the bedside and the first line of care for the patient), or you have the opportunity to go back to school for an advanced practice degree (of which NP is one) or other further step. You can get a doctorate, work in many settings, etc.
An NP is an independent practitioner (in many states) meaning that you do not need to be under the guidance of a physician, and can work independently in private practice (why many more NPs work outpatient) while a PA will always need to be associated with a physician. Again, this is only relevant if you are considering RN==>NP (as opposed to RN) vs PA.
If you do NOT with to consider going back to school a second time, and are only considering RN vs PA, then you need to realize that they are very different jobs, and perhaps you should shadow both so that you have a picture of what each job entails. Yes, a PA makes more money and has more "prestige", but you should also take into account your personality and capabilities and passions.
Hatzlacha
(you can feel free to PM me if you have any questions. I'm currently an acute care NP, and was an ICU rn before that).

amother

Powderblue

Fri, Aug 04 2017, 7:16 am

eschaya wrote:

Thank you! This really helped. If I have any more questions, I'll message you.

amother

Red

Fri, Aug 04 2017, 8:14 am

My DH went to PA school while we had a few children already. Only go this route if your husband is willing to be the sole caregiver/homemaker for the two years you're in school. The intensity of PA school is brutal. You're basically condensing 4 yrs of medical school into 2.
PA school also usually requires lots of very specific prerequisites and hours of shadowing - usually a minimum of 2 years before starting the actual program.
At this point in life I would suggest looking into RN before PA and then you can always go back for NP later on.

Also just to clarify on an above poster - salary and job opportunities for PA and NPs vary tremendously across the country. Where I live salary for a new grad PA starts around 100k, and PAs make on average 10-15k more than NPs across the board

amother

Papaya

Fri, Aug 04 2017, 8:22 am

amother wrote:

I agree with your point regarding salaries.
Where I live, base salary for a RN in a hospital near me, the base salary is 80K (this is for a graduate and it's her first job) + if u have certifications (which the hospital provides training free) can give u at least another 10K per year. Which means the salary is 90K.. starting... And this is for a RN
Salary definitely depends on location and other specifics

amother

Seafoam

Fri, Aug 04 2017, 10:18 am

amother wrote:

You only need an associates degree to get an RN license and you definitely get it with a BSN (assuming you pass your boards). I'm not sure what you mean about BSNs making less than RNs. It's harder to find a job with just an associates degree but once you do the pay is usually comparable (unless you go to places that only want associates level nurses so they can pay them less). If you meant an LPN that's different. That's a nursing assistant which makes a lot less

eschaya

Fri, Aug 04 2017, 11:56 am

There are 2 separate things that often get confused with regards to nurses; licensure, and education.

Licensure as a "nurse" is either RN or LPN (lower level nurse, lower salary, most hospitals are looking for RNs nowadays, though many outpatient areas such as doctors offices will hire LPNs)
Education includes ASN (associates), BSN (bachelors degree), MSN (masters degree) and DNP/PhD (doctorate)
Advanced practice licensure includes NP, CNM, CRNA, CNS.

A LPN is typically obtained with an associates degree.
An RN can have almost any of the above degrees.
An APN (advanced practice nurse) typically has a masters or doctoral degree.
It's possible (and not uncommon) for some nurses to start out with an associates+RN, then while working do a bridge to BSN (oftentimes paid for by their workplace).

Salaries for nurses, APNs, and PAs vary widely with location in the country (usually commensurate with the cost of living, though) and with workplace setting (hospital vs outpatient).
Within one setting though, NPs and PAs typically make the same or very similar salaries, both of which are about 30-50% more than an RN.

Overall (countrywide), NPs appear to have lower salaries than PAs, but I wonder how much of this reflects the fact the many more NPs work in the outpatient setting than PAs do.

amother

Powderblue

Thu, Aug 10 2017, 10:32 am

OP here:

Thanks for all the info.

After doing some research, speaking to people, I believe that nursing would be better for me. However, I'm still unsure as to which track to take.

I've been looking at nursing programs in NYC and I've been trying to contact them and ask these questions (no luck so far). All of the programs require science prerequisites and I do have many of those from my BA, however, it's been over 10 years! So that means that I'd have to repeat some classes. It seems a bit "easier" to apply for ASN degrees rather than BSN. (also my GPA isn't that high, 2.88 and then I went back again for a year and got a 3.4). I don't want to just waste my time and effort to apply for the ABSN if I won't be eligible based on the requirements.

Do you think it's best for me to just apply for the ASN degrees? some are just 15 months and then I take the exam. However, who hires RN with just an associate degree?? Most likely I'll have to do the RN-BSN online degree afterwards. So how many years would that be? Wouldn't be wiser to just go for a BSN traditional 4 year degree if the ABSN is too competitive? What's the fastest track? Also, if I do go for more than 2 years studying, I most definitely need to work as well to support my family. Any ideas what's the best thing to do?