Former nurse, now PA-C or PA student

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GodWilling

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I'm entering nursing school, an accelerated BSN program, in a month and I'm nervous. A few years ago I dropped out (though I soon would have been kicked out) of PA school. I'm in no way a slacker I tried my hardest, that's for sure, but I have an autoimmune disease that decided to kick my butt, hard, that year.

In the last few years, not that I really had a choice, I gave myself the time needed to fix up my body and mind. And I think I'm really good. I want to say that I'm ready. But I'm very nervous.

Is nursing school as difficult as PA school? Can there possibly be as or more work?

Folks on allnurses.com talk about nursing school as though it is the most difficult undertaking known to man, but that to me was PA school. PA school was hell in a lecture hall and I guess I still have some scars from the experience.

I assume that the material is significantly different than PA school, being a medical model and all. In the end I want to treat patients and help them to be or stay healthy. This is a step. I'm not sure what form that will take in the future... PA, NP, med school...? Or maybe I'll love nursing so much I'll be a lifer?

Thanks!

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@GodWilling I am a former nurse. I think nursing school is difficult, but might not to be as difficult as PA school since the latter one is a mini version of med school..
 
I'm entering nursing school, an accelerated BSN program, in a month and I'm nervous. A few years ago I dropped out (though I soon would have been kicked out) of PA school. I'm in no way a slacker I tried my hardest, that's for sure, but I have an autoimmune disease that decided to kick my butt, hard, that year.

In the last few years, not that I really had a choice, I gave myself the time needed to fix up my body and mind. And I think I'm really good. I want to say that I'm ready. But I'm very nervous.

Is nursing school as difficult as PA school? Can there possibly be as or more work?

Folks on allnurses.com talk about nursing school as though it is the most difficult undertaking known to man, but that to me was PA school. PA school was hell in a lecture hall and I guess I still have some scars from the experience.

I assume that the material is significantly different than PA school, being a medical model and all. In the end I want to treat patients and help them to be or stay healthy. This is a step. I'm not sure what form that will take in the future... PA, NP, med school...? Or maybe I'll love nursing so much I'll be a lifer?

Thanks!
NP or med school
 
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I worked full time and went to nursing school full time. I didn't go to an accelerated nursing program, though. I don't think I could have come close to working full time while in PA school, which is why I decided not to stay on that track once I ran the financial numbers. I spent part of a day in a couple of PA lectures, and the material wasn't over my head at all, while a lot of the students were struggling seeing that information for the first time (I have a very biology heavy background) but the sheer volume of material they covered would definitely be hard to wield day in and out. I was thinking about all the obscure test questions they could throw at you from what they discussed.

To be honest, nursing school was more about jumping through hoops. My background in traditional science and academics made me crave straight forward rote knowledge. Nursing school presents things in a way I struggled with because a lot of what they stress is prioritization of tasks, and I still don't think they do a good job of teaching you that. It's an endless game of gotcha. So I spent a lot of time trying to figure out what my instructors even wanted of us. Way more time consuming and stressful than it needed to be. So difficulty is in the eye if the beholder. I had nursing peers that struggled the whole time, and acted like they were being presented with PHD material. It wasn't that bad. But you may find the time commitment and various types of assignments and projects to be as much of a struggle as just powering down knowledge in PA school.
 
Thanks pamac. I suppose I will soon find out.
I have a pretty good biology / clinical background too. I think that I still question my ability at times. My PA program truly was not supportive when I became sick. Rather than treating it like it was likely a temporary and surmountable situation they made it seem like I was just incapable and needed to go. In fact one on the faculty members told me maybe if I'm lucky I can handle being a nurse. As though nursing is some sort of cake walk in comparison to PA school / being a PA. While I never 100 percent believed what they told me they and that experience in general left me very shaken. But I'm steady once again and thanks to PA school and the ordeals that came after I think that I'm more steady than when I started down this path.
 
Thanks pamac. I suppose I will soon find out.
I have a pretty good biology / clinical background too. I think that I still question my ability at times. My PA program truly was not supportive when I became sick. Rather than treating it like it was likely a temporary and surmountable situation they made it seem like I was just incapable and needed to go. In fact one on the faculty members told me maybe if I'm lucky I can handle being a nurse. As though nursing is some sort of cake walk in comparison to PA school / being a PA. While I never 100 percent believed what they told me they and that experience in general left me very shaken. But I'm steady once again and thanks to PA school and the ordeals that came after I think that I'm more steady than when I started down this path.

Meh... Every program likes to think they are the top dogs. PAs aren't alowed in ERs here because everyone in this area expects to see a board certified ED physicians. Most of the folks I knew in my biology undergrad wouldn't have a hard time with PA school regimen. Mostly it comes down to work ethic and time management, like many other disciplines. The nearest pa program to me churns out young PAs with no healthcare experience, so that tells you that a smart kid that can work hard can hack it. But these programs, and nursing programs as well, end up in trouble when they start accommodating people too much. You have to think that with the volume of info they have to cover and give students a basic mastery of, even missing a few days can put you so far behind that it would be difficult to catch up.
 
@pamac (and whoever) I agree that there's only so much a program can and should do, but in my case they were unprofessional and as shady indirect as they could be. It's like they didn't want to say anything because they were covering they're butts. I feel like they were worried more about the school's perfect PANCE score than any student required an extra energy. Which is why everyone in my class was a super driven stellar student. If they had actually had a conversation with me rather then ignore the situation until it was in their favor then become vague and aloof, I could have A. Fixed the problem with the right help. And I mean it was a medical problem, at a medical school and it was very fixable or B. Agreed to leave because it made the most sense in the circumstance... I'm still annoyed I guess.

Today was my nursing school orientation and I know PA school did do me some favors. Thanks to the rigors of PA school nursing school probably won't be that bad. I mean the stuff that the class before me said was hard, like memorizing and understanding the cranial nerves and doing a complete physical assessment (which we did on each other and real inpatients from the start in PA school rather than dummies in nursing school), and then some. I've been there and done that so I got something for my 40K of debt!!

Just curious; how do you feel a new PA-C's skills compare to say a first year resident? I work with doctors now and they think very highly of themselves in general (ha!) and in comparison to a PA or NP and I have always wondered even when I was in a PA program, how you could be a good or even descent clinician after only two years. Doctors aren't even really fully doctors for another two or three years after they graduate from med school. I mean it's done and will continue to be done so it must work out somehow... But really? Especially now that many schools (though not the school I attended) don't even require healthcare experience. I have the same question about the clinicians that Direct Entry NP programs.
 
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