nurses switching to pharmacy

[njamah]

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Hello,

I would love to hear from all of you nurses switching to pharmacy. In particular, how long have you been in nursing? Is pharmacy as hard or harder than nursing school? (nursing school was rough for me). Are people trying to talk you out of switching? And lastly, why are you switching?
I am a nurse about to start taking my prerequisites for pharm school.

 

[NuclearFission]

Hello,

I would love to hear from all of you nurses switching to pharmacy. In particular, how long have you been in nursing? Is pharmacy as hard or harder than nursing school? (nursing school was rough for me). Are people trying to talk you out of switching? And lastly, why are you switching?
I am a nurse about to start taking my prerequisites for pharm school.

Why do you want to switch?

And I don't believe any school is harder then the other because those professional programs are made for you to succeed/pass a specific National Exam. Pharmacy school is a four yeah program and i'm guessing nursing school is also a four year program. They all lead up to one thing, getting a license by retaining all the past knowledge. I'm sure pharmacy school is just as hard as nursing school, if not harder since you do gain a Doctor status.

 

[pakcw]

Hello,

I would love to hear from all of you nurses switching to pharmacy. In particular, how long have you been in nursing? Is pharmacy as hard or harder than nursing school? (nursing school was rough for me). Are people trying to talk you out of switching? And lastly, why are you switching?
I am a nurse about to start taking my prerequisites for pharm school.

Nurse practioner sounds better than pharm school
Except there are any particular reason for swiching it.
N.P makes more than pharm dose

 

[rxforlife2004]

Nurse practioner sounds better than pharm school
Except there are any particular reason for swiching it.
N.P makes more than pharm dose

This is not TRUE. STarting for a Pharm.D graduate now is around 90-100K, whereas an NP is around 80K. Also, who makes more money depends on how you ultilize your degree. I'm currently on rotation at a small chain pharmacy owned by this guy and average income is around 5-6millions/year (after tax, employee payment, etc..). So yeah, I happen to know a Pharm.D whose income is 5 millions/year.

 

[TennisBoy78]

Nurse practioner sounds better than pharm school
Except there are any particular reason for swiching it.
N.P makes more than pharm dose

I second, this is NOT TRUE. Pharmacists make more $$.

I applaud your decision to go into pharmacy, and I think that you will have had a head start at it to by being a nurse. You have already taken pharmacology as a nurse.

I think that pharmacy will be more specific to drugs but will be a much cleaner job with a lot less paperwork. My 53 year old mom has been a nurse for about 15 years and hates the amounts of paperwork and amount of crap she has to deal with from other nurses (my mom is the DON). As a pharmacist, you will be in charge, and there should not be as much bickering between associates from what nurses have to deal with.

Good luck to you!

 

[pakcw]

This is not TRUE. STarting for a Pharm.D graduate now is around 90-100K, whereas an NP is around 80K. Also, who makes more money depends on how you ultilize your degree. I'm currently on rotation at a small chain pharmacy owned by this guy and average income is around 5-6millions/year (after tax, employee payment, etc..). So yeah, I happen to know a Pharm.D whose income is 5 millions/year.

That dose not sound ture, either. 5mili~/year??

 

[TennisBoy78]

That dose not sound ture, either. 5mili~/year??

That info cannot be verified because it is one isolated incident. Likewise, there may be 1% of Nurse Practitioners that make more money than the average pharmacist.

But as a whole, Nurse Practioners make less money than pharmacists on the whole. Just face it, you were WRONG.

Getting back to the original question, switching to pharmacy from nursing entails more $$. It may or may not be more difficult, but I think that he/she can do it. Working conditions are definitely better than nursing. I thought about going into nursing as a second career, but my mom successfully persuaded me not to. Working conditions for nurses suck, she said, and its not worth dealing with all of the crap. My mom loves the nursing patients part of her job, but hates the paperwork, dealing with corporate, and dealing with the whining by all of her workers. She told me that if she had a chance to do it all over again, she would definitely have chosen pharmacy over nursing.

Look at statistics. Compare the number of RNs that are still nursing to the number of pharmacists that are still practicing. Pharmacists have a much higher retention rate.

 

[dirtyart]

http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos083.htm#earnings
http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos079.htm#earnings

Big difference in earnings.

And pre-pharmacy is harder than a nursing degree.

 

[TennisBoy78]

http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos083.htm#earnings
http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos079.htm#earnings

Big difference in earnings.

And pre-pharmacy is harder than a nursing degree.

As a nurse, he/she would only have to take calculus and the organics. Tough? Absolutely, but not impossible. Barring school specific requirements, this person would have already taken other pre-pharm prereqs.

Our previous arguments pertained to nurse practitioner vs pharmacist salaries. Nurse practitioners make more than RNs, which is what you have provided.

 

[sdn1977]

Hello,

I would love to hear from all of you nurses switching to pharmacy. In particular, how long have you been in nursing? Is pharmacy as hard or harder than nursing school? (nursing school was rough for me). Are people trying to talk you out of switching? And lastly, why are you switching?
I am a nurse about to start taking my prerequisites for pharm school.

njamah.....I was never a nurse so I can't speak from practical experience. I'm not sure how many of the responders so far have been nurses either, but thats neither here nor there.

As to your specific questions: Is pharmacy as hard or harder than nursing? Well....nursing would have been very difficult for me. I don't particularly like hands on manipulative patient contact which is taught in nursing school.

Will pharmacy be hard for you? Thats difficult for those of us on here to know without knowing you. Pharmacy has its basis in chemistry, biology & biochemistry. You have to know this stuff inside & out. When you finally finish, you'll have the equivalent to a BS in chemistry. To learn chemistry really well.....you need to know math to the level of calculus (for better or worse.....from other threads). So....you need know math & really, really like chemistry.

As for switching....why are you switching? Do you have a firm reason which satisfies you? If so...that is all you need to know. There doesn't need to be any other reason than you want to make the switch.

The pros & cons which influence one might be insignificant to another. If you're a nurse, you have enough experience in life & education to decide what works for you.

Good luck & no matter what you decide - we're happy to work with you - as a nurse or pharmacist!

 

[pakcw]

That info cannot be verified because it is one isolated incident. Likewise, there may be 1% of Nurse Practitioners that make more money than the average pharmacist.

But as a whole, Nurse Practioners make less money than pharmacists on the whole. Just face it, you were WRONG.

Getting back to the original question, switching to pharmacy from nursing entails more $$. It may or may not be more difficult, but I think that he/she can do it. Working conditions are definitely better than nursing. I thought about going into nursing as a second career, but my mom successfully persuaded me not to. Working conditions for nurses suck, she said, and its not worth dealing with all of the crap. My mom loves the nursing patients part of her job, but hates the paperwork, dealing with corporate, and dealing with the whining by all of her workers. She told me that if she had a chance to do it all over again, she would definitely have chosen pharmacy over nursing.

Look at statistics. Compare the number of RNs that are still nursing to the number of pharmacists that are still practicing. Pharmacists have a much higher retention rate.

Sorry if i was wrong!
As far as what I hear Rn starts $50~60 at the beginning.
After 10 years of exp. they make ~$100.00
I heard Nurse P make $170 thus I thought it was better than pharm.
For me I like nursing the only thing I am scare that needle poking human

 

[NuclearFission]

Sorry if i was wrong!
As far as what I hear Rn starts $50~60 at the beginning.
After 10 years of exp. they make ~$100.00
I heard Nurse P make $170 thus I thought it was better than pharm.
For me I like nursing the only thing I am scare that needle poking human

I'm not sure what a NP does but it sure sounds higher then being just a regular nurse.

 

[TennisBoy78]

FYI, a nurse practicioner is one level below an MD, they can prescribe diagnose and prescribe medications, but cant perform surgeries. Most work in a clinic type of setting, 8-5 hours.

My belief is that the nurse initiating this board is an RN (not sure if you are a BSN). Becoming a nurse practicioner involves a lot of graduate school, not quite sure but know it is more than getting an MSN. With all of that time, you can become a pharmacist while enjoying better pay and working conditions.

 

[konkan]

Nurse practioner sounds better than pharm school
Except there are any particular reason for swiching it.
N.P makes more than pharm dose

I don't know any recent pharm grads who would start for less than 100000. PAs and NPs make no more than 70000. So what you're saying is just simply not true.

 

[konkan]

Sorry if i was wrong!
As far as what I hear Rn starts $50~60 at the beginning.
After 10 years of exp. they make ~$100.00
I heard Nurse P make $170 thus I thought it was better than pharm.
For me I like nursing the only thing I am scare that needle poking human

I used to be a nurse. Your numbers are ridiculous. 50-60/hour??

Nurses start at 22-24/hour. After 10 years experience making 100$? Maybe, considering all the inflation. But then pharmacists would make 200$. It just doesn't make any logical sense to pay pharmacists and nurses the same amount of money coz the level of responsibility varies so much.
As far as NPs making 170, I think you're confusing them with CRNAs. They indeed might make that much money.

 

[konkan]

Hello,

I would love to hear from all of you nurses switching to pharmacy. In particular, how long have you been in nursing? Is pharmacy as hard or harder than nursing school? (nursing school was rough for me). Are people trying to talk you out of switching? And lastly, why are you switching?
I am a nurse about to start taking my prerequisites for pharm school.

Well, as I mentioned before I used to be a nurse, but it was just a hell for me (plus money issue) so I am a P2 know. Overall, I worked for about 18 months, but I knew I was leaving nursing after about 4 weeks

Pharm school is definitely harder than nursing school coz in nursing school u'r just brushing a surface of every medical discipline whereas in pharmacy u'r gonna learn about drugs really deep.
On the other hand, I am glad I will have two degrees, hopefully I will have some advantage over other applicants when I will be applying for jobs (especially inpatient/outpatient settings). Good luck.

 

[Scrubs Fan]

FYI, a nurse practicioner is one level below an MD, they can prescribe diagnose and prescribe medications, but cant perform surgeries. Most work in a clinic type of setting, 8-5 hours.

My belief is that the nurse initiating this board is an RN (not sure if you are a BSN). Becoming a nurse practicioner involves a lot of graduate school, not quite sure but know it is more than getting an MSN. With all of that time, you can become a pharmacist while enjoying better pay and working conditions.

I wanted to add to that. I volunteer at a free medical clinic, and when a pharmacist is not there, an NP can fill prescriptions. I don't know how or why that is, but I always found that interesting.

 

[thelonius]

Ummm Pharmacy school is definitely more challenging than nursing school. I took an undergrad senior level pharmacology class and then sat in a nursing school Pharmacology class-about the same intensity. Pharm school Pharmacology is exponentially more difficult than either of those two classes. Also, most (if not all) nursing school students work at least part-time during their education which implies that they spend less time studying. I have many friends in nursing school and I have never heard of a 4 year program like pharmacy. However, there are some 1 year programs. Try packing Pharm school into 1 year. Nursing school may not be easy but It's not even close to Pharm school...

 

[RDlv]

I just completed my first semester of nursing school (BSN). Before this, I thought of pharmacy as something I would like to do in the future (applied to one pharm school, and didn't even get an interview).

What my first semester of nursing school has taught me is that pharmacy is not something I want to pursue "in the future"; it is something I will pursue AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.

In a way, it is a relief; a semester of pharmacology has shown me that I love the subject and am eager to pursue it at a higher level. A semester in clinicals has given me an opportunity to work with some great pharmacists, and totally reinforced my immense respect for, and envy of, their knowledge and ability.

I am working towards getting a spot volunteering or working in this pharmacy. If that doesn't work, well, I'm going to another hospital this coming semester, so I'll try and make some pharmacy friends there, too.

At this point, I am pretty sure nursing for me will be very much a short-term occupation as I strive to get into pharmacy school. Heck, the only thing I am really looking forward to is another semester of pharmacology (when I tell my fellow students that love this class, one actually looked at me for a second and said, "You're kidding, right?").

So, to the original poster, I would say, did you love pharm while in nursing school? Is your favorite part of nursing going over your patient's meds, looking for contraindications/interactions, and educating the patient re: their meds? Would you miss hands-on care?

 

[jacketwrestler]

I'm also in the same boat. Currently entering my senior year as a Respiratory Care B.S. major and about to apply to pharmacy. I'm lucky that I had most of my pre-reqs finished before I even entered my current major because the pre-reqs for pharm are a mountain of classes that you have to climb over, but it's all possible with the right determination.

Some of the classes that you might need:
General Bio 1 & 2
General Chem 1 & 2 (survey or intro courses don't count)
Organice Chem 1 & 2
Calculus 1 (sometimes 2)
General Physics 1 & 2

If the money is what's attracting you to become a pharm major I would definitely look into CRNA school. It's a graduate program and yes, they DO make significantly more than pharmacists.

 

[Ray1234]

FYI, a nurse practicioner is one level below an MD, they can prescribe diagnose and prescribe medications, but cant perform surgeries. Most work in a clinic type of setting, 8-5 hours.

My belief is that the nurse initiating this board is an RN (not sure if you are a BSN). Becoming a nurse practicioner involves a lot of graduate school, not quite sure but know it is more than getting an MSN. With all of that time, you can become a pharmacist while enjoying better pay and working conditions.

What about Physician Assistant.. how should we rank PA now? below NP. Two levels below MD??
Ray

 

[Kay51]

I thought a PA was under a MD?

 

[lvp0021]

PA is definitely under MD, that's why they are called Physician assistant . There is a very very heated debate in the MD forum regarding ranking of PA and MD/DO, so so fervent that people turn into fighting argument (you can go and look and "enjoy" the scence LOL). To me, PA or MD/DO or NP, they are all health-coleagues of PharmD anyway.

 

[hunnybee24]

Uh where did you get this "statistic" from? Your own opinion?

"Look at statistics. Compare the number of RNs that are still nursing to the number of pharmacists that are still practicing. Pharmacists have a much higher retention rate."

I know nurses working at my hospital that are doing what they do after their retirement age because they love it so much. Paperwork is apart of a nurses job, whining from co-workers is the same everywhere, no matter if you are in pharmacy or nursing! I work in a hospital pharmacy and every day whining happens! There is a lot of bureacracy in pharmacy also.

After working in healthcare for three years, it has been my experience that what you do matters really with who you work with. You might think pharmacy is a cushy job, but most of the time I find it completely boring. Entering orders all day is not my idea of having fun on the job.

I really don't believe money should be a motivating factor for anyone trying to find a career. Finding a career you have a passion for is something that gets you out of bed everyday and motivates you to come to work.

Obviously, my opinion is just an opinion. Everyone here is going to tell you a side of something you might not know about. I was pursuing pharmacy two years ago, and got a job as a pharmacy tech. I found that it just wasn't for me. Being a pharmacist is not an easy job. Neither is nursing. So, find out for yourself what you want out of a career.

 

[hreiss]

I am a Physician Assistant, essentially the same thing as a NP. The rules vary by state and so does the pay. It can vary quite significantly. I will tell you that a NP($60-80,000) would have a hard time making the same as a pharmacist(90-110,000). In most cases NP's make less than PA's because most NPs don't generally work in surgery. The exception is in states where NPs can operate without supervision( yes there are a few states where this is possible). In any case the only way to make as much is to work long hours. I can tell you from experience that NPs/PAs work significantly more hours on average and make significantly less. If you are a nurse and found nursing school to be hard. I would not recommend Pharmacy School. The amount of chemistry makes pharmacy school a significantly harder program than an RN or NP school. Unless of course you excelled in Biochem and Organics, which most nurse aren't required to/and don't take. I would say you would do better at NP or PA school. I can say that the pharmacy school is tougher than PA or NP schools from a shear science perspective. My wife is currently a 3rd year Pharmacy student, I have been to PA school, know an NP student currently and have been accepted to Pharmacy school for this fall. I want my time back and still want to make a decent living.🙄