NP vs PA

[ERMama]

Nurse practitioner vs. physicians assistant.
Looking for advice of which way to go.

I have NP and PA friends. I know why they chose what they did. Im an ER nurse who said they would never go back to school, but now, who knows. Never say never I guess.

 

[C.Ann]

Not sure, but I think a PA requires much more schooling - if that makes a difference..

 

[Abbie]

Actually it's the NP who requires more training. My thought, as too the NP I work for, is that if you're going to invest in the additional training, why not go that extra step and become an NP? Your options are far more open afterwards, pay is better, and the additional work is negligible in the long run.

 

[ERMama]

I enjoy my job but I hear my friends talk about the NP classes they took and I think I would not like the nursing theory junk again.
And at least here all the jobs seem to take either PA's or NP's.

 

[ERMama]

And I do not want to do midwife or CRNA. And I dont really see myself ever wanting to having my own "practice" as I prefer to work part time.

 

[Jen_in_NH]

I'm a PA, so I have a slight bias....

The amount of education is roughly similiar, and the degree you recieve is getting to be more similar (many programs are Master's now)

The NP's license is independent, the PA's is under the doctor they work for. Not a huge difference, unless you're interested in having your own office.

I don't know about all of the different states, but in NH, the prescribing rights are the same.

I think the biggest thing that pointed me towards PA was the flexibility in the area of specialization that was possible. NPs are trained in a particular area, and then seem to practice in that area. PAs are trained in general medicine, and then can specialize in any area with a doctor willing to train them for it. The flexibility was appealing to me.

Good luck with you decision.
Jen

 

[npmommie]

I'm a PA, so I have a slight bias....

The amount of education is roughly similiar, and the degree you recieve is getting to be more similar (many programs are Master's now)

The NP's license is independent, the PA's is under the doctor they work for. Not a huge difference, unless you're interested in having your own office.

I don't know about all of the different states, but in NH, the prescribing rights are the same.

I think the biggest thing that pointed me towards PA was the flexibility in the area of specialization that was possible. NPs are trained in a particular area, and then seem to practice in that area. PAs are trained in general medicine, and then can specialize in any area with a doctor willing to train them for it. The flexibility was appealing to me.

Good luck with you decision.
Jen

Most NP education is general medicine. Mine was. There are programs that specialize, but most are general medicine, (primary care) family practice.
I trained in a family practice. and once i graduated, i worked in an Internal Medicine practice.

Jen i have a question........working under a doctors license as a PA, can you work independently, alone in a practice?
as an NP I can work alone in the practice, for instance I have a physician friend I help out occasionally, I will see patients on her days off ( she works part time in her practice). so I am there alone.

OP, don't worry about nursing theory, NP (grad) school is completely different than nursing school. Not as much nonsense!! at least thats what I thought.

 

[laurie31]

I'm sure it's different in different states, but where I work, we employ a TON of NPs but no PAs that I know of. Working in a hospital gives you that flexibility to work part-time, and most NP jobs don't do weekends and holidays, although some have call time depending on the job itself.

Do you know what you'd like to do, specifically? Work part-time in a doctor's office? Work in a hospital? Work in an occupational or school setting (although I doubt many school nurses are NPs)? Lots of choices

 

[Jen_in_NH]

Most NP education is general medicine. Mine was. There are programs that specialize, but most are general medicine, (primary care) family practice.
I trained in a family practice. and once i graduated, i worked in an Internal Medicine practice.

Jen i have a question........working under a doctors license as a PA, can you work independently, alone in a practice?
as an NP I can work alone in the practice, for instance I have a physician friend I help out occasionally, I will see patients on her days off ( she works part time in her practice). so I am there alone.

OP, don't worry about nursing theory, NP (grad) school is completely different than nursing school. Not as much nonsense!! at least thats what I thought.

How a PA works is pretty much up to the doc they work for, or the hospital they work for. Around here, the doctor has to be available to consult, if needed. So, by telephone is ok. I worked at a clinic where the doctor was in on Wednesdays and I worked Mondays, Thursdays, and Fridays. If I needed an opinion, I could call him, or schedule the person to see him on a day he was there. As far as co-signing charts, that is left up to the doctor. Some choose to co-sign all charts, mine chooses to review a few of mine a month.

As far as the general medicine, I was thinking more that there are different types of NP programs, but there is only 1 type of PA program, and then you specialize after that. I think I'm a bad explainer...