u/Intrepid-Syrup-1147

Hey everyone! Appreciate any advice you can give!

At an early health career fork in the road and would love to hear from people who have been there / are actual practicing PAs and NPs.

I'm torn between going to PA school vs. doing an ABSN, working acute care for a few years, then going back for NP or BSN->DNP.

My ultimate, long-term goal is to work as a APP in inpatient palliative care, ideally in the Bay Area or Sacramento. I know it'll probably take some speciality-hopping in order to get there. Currently I live in Colorado.

Help me out! My current thoughts on PA vs. NP:

• I don't particularly want to be a nurse
  • TBH I'm scared of working nights (don't do well on flipping schedules lol), and making it through bedside nursing for however many years I'd need to have enough experience for AGNP school
• The work of a PA is a much better fit for me than RN (I've shadowed both) - I want clinical decision making, high-level charting, and the like
  • However, I'm concerned that PA has more of a "glass ceiling" than NP - lack of full practice authority, and fewer opportunities for leadership. Would biting the bullet of bedside nursing for a couple years make this worth it...?
• NP vs. PA job availability in Northern California is still a bit unclear
  • I know nursing is unionized and highly paid there but unsure if that means NPs are also hired over PAs
• "The way you think is a better fit for the nursing model!" - WTF?
  • I do want to see people as people beyond their disease. But I hope nurses aren't the only ones who can see this, lol?
  • Does the whole "Medical vs. Nursing model" for education actually matter? I've mainly heard that NP school contains a lot of fluff while PA school is more rigorous...

Where I'm at, if it helps:

• 27f, Non-nursing Bachelor’s, 4.0 GPA in all pre-PA coursework except for Anatomy and Phys will take this fall; might need a couple more classes for ABSN
• I currently work as a Medical Assistant in a behavioral health clinic. I also have 500 hours as a Mental Health Technician at this same behavioral health clinic and 1,600 hours as an outpatient Pharmacy Technician at a Trauma 1 hospital prior.
• I have some family support, so biting the bullet for PA (even with the shitty government loan situation) would not rule it out financially- and I'm not in a situation where I need to go RN quick to make money

Appreciate any insight, brutal honesty, or advice you can throw my way!

Hey everyone! Appreciate any advice you can give!

At an early health career fork in the road and would love to hear from people who have been there / are actual practicing PAs and NPs.

I'm torn between going to PA school vs. doing an ABSN, working acute care for a few years, then going back for NP or BSN->DNP.

My ultimate, long-term goal is to work as a APP in inpatient palliative care, ideally in the Bay Area or Sacramento. I know it'll probably take some speciality-hopping in order to get there. Currently I live in Colorado.

Help me out! My current thoughts on PA vs. NP:

• I don't particularly want to be a nurse
  • TBH I'm scared of body fluids, working nights (don't do well on flipping schedules lol), and making it through acute care for however many years I'd need to have enough experience for NP school
• The work of a PA is a much better fit for me than RN (I've shadowed both) - I want clinical decision making, high-level charting, and the like
  • However, I'm concerned that PA has more of a "glass ceiling" than NP - lack of full practice authority, and fewer opportunities for leadership. Would biting the bullet of bedside nursing for a couple years make this worth it...?
• NP vs. PA job availability in Northern California is still a bit unclear
  • I know nursing is unionized and highly paid there but unsure if that means NPs are also hired over PAs
  • Is it weird for PAs to get hired in Palliative Care? All Palliative departments I've shadowed have like 90% NPs, 10% PAs for their APP makeup...
• "The way you think is a better fit for the nursing model!" - WTF?
  • Does the whole "Medical vs. Nursing model" for education actually matter? I've mainly heard that NP school contains a lot of fluff while PA school is more rigorous...

Where I'm at, if it helps:

• 27f, Non-nursing Bachelor’s, 4.0 GPA in all pre-PA coursework except for Anatomy and Phys will take this fall; might need a couple more classes for ABSN
• I currently work as a Medical Assistant in a behavioral health clinic. I also have 500 hours as a Mental Health Technician at this same behavioral health clinic and 1,600 hours as an outpatient Pharmacy Technician at a Trauma 1 hospital prior.
• I have some family support, so biting the bullet for PA (even with the shitty government loan situation) would not rule it out financially- and I'm not in a situation where I need to go RN quick to make money

Appreciate any insight, brutal honesty, or advice you can throw my way!