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PA salary vs NP
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amother
Orchid


 

Post Mon, Jan 07 2019, 7:25 pm
Posting for a friend that is looking into going for PA or Nurse practitioner, looking for advice for those who are either.
What is the starting salary for both positions?
Is it hard to get a part time job as a new graduate PA?
Thanks!
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amother
Mistyrose


 

Post Mon, Jan 07 2019, 7:31 pm
The salaries are almost identical . Advantage of NP is that u can work as a nurse while in the masters program . According to my husb who is in the medical field PAs are a lot more knowledgeable and you can tell they had a more rigorous training .
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amother
Brunette


 

Post Mon, Jan 07 2019, 7:33 pm
amother wrote:
The salaries are almost identical . Advantage of NP is that u can work as a nurse while in the masters program . According to my husb who is in the medical field PAs are a lot more knowledgeable and you can tell they had a more rigorous training .


I just heard the exact opposite- that NPs know a lot more, and PAs are chronic beginners.


Last edited by amother on Tue, Jul 09 2019, 8:43 am; edited 1 time in total
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amother
Cyan


 

Post Mon, Jan 07 2019, 8:20 pm
At the 2 hospitals where I’ve worked over the last 15 years, the PAs were hands down more knowledgeable, capable, and more respected. The salaries don’t differ that much, although that might depend on geographic location. It’s hard to find part time work, especially as a new graduate.
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amother
Burlywood


 

Post Mon, Jan 07 2019, 8:55 pm
The salaries are pretty similar but differ slightly based on state and practice preference. NPs have a stronger lobby. I think how good an individual provider is is provider specific though generally speaking PAs have a stronger education. NPs have the ability to work as a nurse while furthering their education (and often their jobs will pay for further education) but overall it's longer schooling. They can always fall back on being a nurse if the NP thing doesn't work out. I don't think it's terribly hard to find part time though it may be harder as a new grad. I'm considered full time at 30 hours.
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amother
Mauve


 

Post Mon, Jan 07 2019, 10:25 pm
I think there is a large range by state. Where I live the starting salary for PA/NP is identical, because their scope of practice is nearly identical. In some states NPs have much more autonomy than PAs so there is a real salary differential.
My DH is a PA and he definitely sees a huge difference in how they're trained. NPs may have more practical experience in certain areas because they've worked before, but PAs are taught based on the same model as doctors (which NPs are not) and there is a huge advantage in how much more medical knowledge they have.
At least where I live I think it would be almost impossible to find a part time job out of school - but again this may vary by state
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amother
Orchid


 

Post Mon, Jan 07 2019, 10:34 pm
OP here
Thank you so much to all that responded!
So PA/NP salaries being similar, would it be possible to make more than 100k as a new grad?
For anyone with PA experience, is it possible to go further in the profession, like managerial or owning a practice, or is that unheard of?
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amother
Mauve


 

Post Mon, Jan 07 2019, 11:19 pm
Again, this is very dependent on state. Where I live starting salary for a PA is minimum 100,000 and some places higher. But I believe in NY and Florida for instance you can find starting salaries closer to 80,000 (sometimes even less).
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amother
Mauve


 

Post Mon, Jan 07 2019, 11:22 pm
And 100% you can move up. The hospital my husband works at offers $800 for each extra shift you work. So just one a month will net you close to $10,000. There are also options in some states of owning a practice, teaching opportunities and managerial/training opportunities.
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rydys




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, Jan 08 2019, 12:57 pm
amother wrote:
The salaries are almost identical . Advantage of NP is that u can work as a nurse while in the masters program . According to my husb who is in the medical field PAs are a lot more knowledgeable and you can tell they had a more rigorous training .


I'm shocked to hear what your husband said. NPs have much more rigorous training than PAs and are much more knowledgeable in their fields.

NPs are fully trained nurses who go on to specialize in a specific field. PAs are given a training which is very general and on a much more superficial level. They also start out with less experience and do a lot more on the job learning.

While a PA may seem to be more knowledgeable since they know something about many fields, NPs actually have a much more in depth knowledge and training about their specific area of expertise.
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mha3484




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, Jan 08 2019, 1:04 pm
I work in medical staffing and my customers vastly prefer NP's over PA's. Home health, hospice, skilled nursing, outpatient clinics all ask me for NP's and see PAs as bedieved. If the person has good experience they wont turn them away but its not the first choice.

Your average NP has worked as an RN for a few years minimum some much longer before going back to school for their masters degree. They have seen and experienced so many patient care scenarios that PA's have not since they went straight from undergrad to PA school and only start working once they have their masters degree.

I find that hospitals and orthopedic offices use PAs but most other areas of medicine use NPs. Most Dr's I go to myself and for my kids use NPs not PAs. In IL where I live salaries start in the mid 90's and go up from there.
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amother
Aquamarine


 

Post Tue, Jan 08 2019, 1:15 pm
amother wrote:
OP here
Thank you so much to all that responded!
So PA/NP salaries being similar, would it be possible to make more than 100k as a new grad?
For anyone with PA experience, is it possible to go further in the profession, like managerial or owning a practice, or is that unheard of?


It depends on the specialty. I believe psych and acute care NPs make more as beginners. Also NPs who can first assist in surgery. It also depends on location. People near me start at 95-100K, but other places may be different. I believe Florida, for instance has a lower starting salary for NPs. PAs don’t specialize so they don’t have to make these decisions in advance, but they don’t have as much area specific training as NPs do. I was already a RN though, so going to PA school didn’t make sense for me.
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amother
Aquamarine


 

Post Tue, Jan 08 2019, 1:17 pm
amother wrote:
The salaries are almost identical . Advantage of NP is that u can work as a nurse while in the masters program . According to my husb who is in the medical field PAs are a lot more knowledgeable and you can tell they had a more rigorous training .


This is something people say when they have a stake in forming people’s opinions to favor one over the other. We have the same practice rules and status. Don’t let anyone tell you differently.
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amother
Aquamarine


 

Post Tue, Jan 08 2019, 1:19 pm
amother wrote:
OP here
Thank you so much to all that responded!
So PA/NP salaries being similar, would it be possible to make more than 100k as a new grad?
For anyone with PA experience, is it possible to go further in the profession, like managerial or owning a practice, or is that unheard of?


I have a friend who went into private practice with a MD to do direct patient care (no insurance). NPs in some states have independent practice ability. PAs will never be able to do that and that is why many doctors like PAs better.
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amother
Mistyrose


 

Post Tue, Jan 08 2019, 1:28 pm
amother wrote:
This is something people say when they have a stake in forming people’s opinions to favor one over the other. We have the same practice rules and status. Don’t let anyone tell you differently.


Oh gosh didn't mean to get anyone up in arms . My husb is a doctor and a close friend of his opened up 2 urgent care branches and told my husb he much prefers PAs. Sorry that it offended u. Feel free to ignore ...
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mha3484




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, Jan 08 2019, 1:31 pm
I think that PA's often work in Emergency Rooms which are a conduit to urgent care centers. That is probably why he prefers PA's.
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amother
Mistyrose


 

Post Tue, Jan 08 2019, 1:33 pm
mha3484 wrote:
I think that PA's often work in Emergency Rooms which are a conduit to urgent care centers. That is probably why he prefers PA's.


He said the knowledge PAs have cant be compared to NPs. this can be his personal experience. Not trying to mold opinions . If it bothers u take it with a grain of salt
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rydys




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, Jan 08 2019, 1:53 pm
amother wrote:
He said the knowledge PAs have cant be compared to NPs. this can be his personal experience. Not trying to mold opinions . If it bothers u take it with a grain of salt


This might be true in an urgent care setting. In this setting, the practitioner is expected to see a wide range of patients and deal with a wide variety of problems.

The difference is that in an urgent care center, the issues are dealt with at a superficial level. The patient comes in with a problem and only the immediate issue is dealt with, like a sore throat or checking blood pressure and giving treatment to stabilize it temporarily. Even if it is a little more complex, it is a one time visit dealing with an immediate issue.

In a regular office, there is a more in depth and comprehensive evaluation and treatment. For example, tracking of strep throat and dealing with the long term picture. For high blood pressure, an internist will work on the cause and monitor the other effects on the body. This is where an NP is more appropriate and knowledgeable due to the in depth training she/he has received.
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amother
Burlywood


 

Post Tue, Jan 08 2019, 1:54 pm
rydys wrote:
I'm shocked to hear what your husband said. NPs have much more rigorous training than PAs and are much more knowledgeable in their fields.

NPs are fully trained nurses who go on to specialize in a specific field. PAs are given a training which is very general and on a much more superficial level. They also start out with less experience and do a lot more on the job learning.

While a PA may seem to be more knowledgeable since they know something about many fields, NPs actually have a much more in depth knowledge and training about their specific area of expertise.

I in no way intend to belittle NPs, but while they are fully trained nurses and have great clinical experience AS NURSES, many complete online degrees which you simply can't compare to a real live program and many more than you'd like to believe go straight to NP school without any nursing experience. Nursing experience is great but it is NOT NP experience which requires very different skills and knowledge.
PA school requires hundreds to thousands of hours of patient care experience (depending on the school) which can range from volunteering in an ER to being a medical scribe, EMT, nursing aid or even a nurse. So while it's not necessarily paid clinical work it is some experience. PAs also get 2000 hours of clinical experience in school which NPs don't (I could be wrong but I believe they require 500 hours).
In terms of starting salary--in NY/NJ area I started out between 110-120k (12-14 shifts a month) as an idependent contractor close to 10 years ago. Starting salary significantly went up. All the places I worked at preferred PAs but that doesn't say much--that was clearly the case because they hired me as a PA. My current company only recently started hiring NPs.
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amother
Burlywood


 

Post Tue, Jan 08 2019, 2:00 pm
rydys wrote:
This might be true in an urgent care setting. In this setting, the practitioner is expected to see a wide range of patients and deal with a wide variety of problems.

The difference is that in an urgent care center, the issues are dealt with at a superficial level. The patient comes in with a problem and only the immediate issue is dealt with, like a sore throat or checking blood pressure and giving treatment to stabilize it temporarily. Even if it is a little more complex, it is a one time visit dealing with an immediate issue.

In a regular office, there is a more in depth and comprehensive evaluation and treatment. For example, tracking of strep throat and dealing with the long term picture. For high blood pressure, an internist will work on the cause and monitor the other effects on the body. This is where an NP is more appropriate and knowledgeable due to the in depth training she/he has received.

No things are not dealt with on a superficial level. Sure, in urgent care there are lots of sore throats that come in but that still requires culture follow up. In my urgent care experience we do labs and imaging and follow ups on the same. Youre right--we don't do chronic care for things like blood pressure and diabetes control but it's not because we can't. There is a big field for PAs in primary care. An urgent care setting is not appropriate for that kind of care and people should have primary care providers for that sort of treatment.
It's also important to recognize the things that are a bigger deal like heart attacks and surgical emergencies that come into an urgent care. It's not all fluff.
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