This has been covered a few times before, and I read those threads but I still cannot make a true decision. I originally wanted to go to med school, but, my father is the only person that works in my family. If he were to get sick/injured and have to quit working my family would be put in a very bad situation. With that said, I cant follow through with med school because I dont want to risk having a 10-12 year period that I cannot work and risk throwing it all away to start working. I would also like a decent salary(70k+).

My first idea was to become a PA, seemed like decent pay. There is a PA program here locally. Also, I can follow through with it since PA school is only 2 years. The other day, I was at the hospital and was speaking with someone in the office. I told them about how I plan on becoming a PA. They dont me to not even do that and to become a Nurse Practitioner. They stated because the pay is the same in the beginning but as a NP you can get salary raises. He said he knows some NP's that make more than Doctors do. Also, an NP can operate on their own.

Now my question is, which would be the better decision. I have gone from engineering, to doctor, to PA, to NP. Im having a hard time making the right choice. If I want to become a NP I would have to apply to nursing school right away so I dont want to waste a year of school studying Biology to become a PA and then decide I want to join a 2yr nursing program. Can anyone give me any insight on their opinion, please?

actually nationally pa's make more than np's. pa's and np's have similar job duties but pa's can switch specialties more easily as they have a broad based medical education with over 2000 hrs of clinical time and most np's are limited to a single specialty with 500-800 hrs of training in that specialty. to become either a pa or an np you need some health care experience. np's must be nurses first. many pa's are paramedics, respiratory therapists or nurses before pa school. both pa's and np's can open their own practices but it is easier for np's to do so in most states. a pa has to have an affiliation with a physician and some states allow np's to not have to collaborate in this fashion. their are different opinions here and elsewhere regarding how safe and appropriate it is for a non-physician to run their own practice....both pa and np are great jobs with job security for the future but if you were previously set on med school you should honestly focus on that. there are scholarships/loans/grants/etc available.
if you want more info on the pa profession see www.physicianassistantforum.com

Thank you for the info. Does anyone know anything about the effectiveness of Online courses for RN to BSN?

Thank you for the info. Does anyone know anything about the effectiveness of Online courses for RN to BSN?

There are a handful of accredited online BSN programs, the more reputable ones have real classes during clinical rotations and only the theoretical courses are taught online. However there's a few online courses where 100% of the content is online and you still get the degree if you pass the NCLEX.

A university called Excelsior in NYC offers this route but in their defense the 100% online degreeis only allowed for people that already have a clinical background such as respiratory therapists or foreign trained doctors. I myself could get their degree if I forked the 6000 dollars and 12-18 months (varies depending if I could pass humanities credit with CLEP exams). You do have to physically be present for the NCLEX exam though to graduate and get the degree.

However, remember that nurses not only learn how to fill paperwork. They also need to take vitals, draw blood samples, start IV lines, CPR and assist doctors during surgical procedures. As good as a class with a mannequin could be, nothing replaces working with a real life patient. I don't know what the job opportunities are with nurses with these 100% online degrees are, some hospitals might not hire them unless they have extensive clinical experience even though they are technically accredited.

The general consensus is to stay away as possible of University of Pheonix's online program, I don't know if their program is accredited.

I know it's been a few months since you posted this question, but in case you are still wondering...I am an RN who got their adn, and am currently doing my RN-BSN online. I myself haven't heard of 100% online classes for BSN that above poster mentioned, and can't imagine that would be legit, since one would need hands-on training (which will be obtained during clinicals in adn). There are several accredited online schools, and the allnurses forums discuss several options. I chose this route as I am in a later years transition into healthcare, and needed to work as soon as I could. As I complete my BSN, I am wondering if I should go in the direction of PA or NP myself. Always wanted to do NP, but am learning more about PA, since I work with so many.