Nursing vs PT

[RamonG3]

Hi, I'm currently going into my first year of college and I'm in a dilemma. I've been researching what I want to do in life and I know I for sure want to do healthcare. I've managed to narrow it down between nursing (specifically trying to become a nurse practitioner or an anesthetist later on) and physical therapy. My problem is I start school in September and I already have 2 classes lined up for a kinesiology major so I can get accepted into the program. I know nursing and physical therapy are obviously very different but I think I would enjoy both. I think I would enjoy the work as a physical therapist but the loans seem to be a bit extreme for the pay and I'm beginning to think that going into nursing would be a better financial decision. My problem with nursing is it would be a little more difficult to get into and finish and I struggle a little with math so chemistry would be difficult. I would job shadow but I'm not sure if I will be able to with this whole COVID-19 deal. I'd love to hear thoughts and comments and thanks for reading this far!.

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[reems112]

Hey! I think its wonderful that you have been doing research about what you want to do. You have plenty of time to figure it out still. I think you should see how you do in the pre req/core classes related to what you want to do and think about switching if you aren't doing as well as you expected. I used to be a nursing major at first too when i first started my undergrad but I didn't end up enjoying the classes or the profession as much as I though I would. When i switched to being an exercise science major I was able to really think upon what I wanted to do and by shadowing in various pt settings and learning more about the field I was even more empowered that this is something I would enjoy a lot and would want to do for the rest of my life. As far as your classes go, if your math is weak nursing doesn't require many math classes as far as I know, i think it varies from program to program. However with physical therapy you are required to take 2 chemistry sequences, 2 physics sequences, and a math class as well (depending on the program you are applying too, as well as statistics which is required by all schools for the most part. These are the heavily math based classes which is why you should think about weather this is something you will enjoy or not. I definitely think you should go and experience each field and see what your interests are and what setting you are more comfortable in. I hope this helped!

 

[dpta1998]

Agree with the person above, for all the programs I applied too, we needed all those science courses, a math course ( some asked for calculus), and then all asked for stats. The physics courses might also need to be calc based, although some programs accept algebra based math. It really depends on the schoo.

At this point, don't worry about how much a career pays (that should be one of the last things you consider). Obviously a very important factor since DPT school is expensive, but dont use that to make your initial decisions about what you want to do. If you plan on becoming an NP or something, I'm sure nursing grad school is expensive too. Start thinking about what you actually enjoy doing and ask to set up a phone interview with PTs or NPs. I'm sure theyd be happy to talk to you about their job since you cannot physically go in and observe them right now.

 

[ya1]

Hi, I'm currently going into my first year of college and I'm in a dilemma. I've been researching what I want to do in life and I know I for sure want to do healthcare. I've managed to narrow it down between nursing (specifically trying to become a nurse practitioner or an anesthetist later on) and physical therapy. My problem is I start school in September and I already have 2 classes lined up for a kinesiology major so I can get accepted into the program. I know nursing and physical therapy are obviously very different but I think I would enjoy both. I think I would enjoy the work as a physical therapist but the loans seem to be a bit extreme for the pay and I'm beginning to think that going into nursing would be a better financial decision. My problem with nursing is it would be a little more difficult to get into and finish and I struggle a little with math so chemistry would be difficult. I would job shadow but I'm not sure if I will be able to with this whole COVID-19 deal. I'd love to hear thoughts and comments and thanks for reading this far!.

You are definitely approaching this right looking at financial side as well as your personal strength and interests. It is a great idea to observe, so try to do that whenever you can. Also observe in different settings because work environment maybe a deal breaker.Nursing in general seems more hectic to me whereas PT can choose between hectic and petty chill settings. (Not sure how important this part of work for you.)
When looking at finances, also look at salaries and think 20 years from the time of graduation, don't look at the cost of the program only.
See if you can take pre-requisites that are needed for both nursing and PT first so that you could use them whatever program you end up choosing.
You will not need much math either in nursing or PT school or at work. If you are not good at math, it does not necessarily mean you will be struggling with chemistry. Take a chemistry course (will need it for both PT and nursing anyway) and see how it goes.

 

[RamonG3]

Hey! I think its wonderful that you have been doing research about what you want to do. You have plenty of time to figure it out still. I think you should see how you do in the pre req/core classes related to what you want to do and think about switching if you aren't doing as well as you expected. I used to be a nursing major at first too when i first started my undergrad but I didn't end up enjoying the classes or the profession as much as I though I would. When i switched to being an exercise science major I was able to really think upon what I wanted to do and by shadowing in various pt settings and learning more about the field I was even more empowered that this is something I would enjoy a lot and would want to do for the rest of my life. As far as your classes go, if your math is weak nursing doesn't require many math classes as far as I know, i think it varies from program to program. However with physical therapy you are required to take 2 chemistry sequences, 2 physics sequences, and a math class as well (depending on the program you are applying too, as well as statistics which is required by all schools for the most part. These are the heavily math based classes which is why you should think about weather this is something you will enjoy or not. I definitely think you should go and experience each field and see what your interests are and what setting you are more comfortable in. I hope this helped!

Hi thanks for the response! I"ll take what you said about math into consideration although it isn't my biggest worry right now. While I do find math a little harder I'm sure just putting in a little extra time and asking for help would make the math portion of my studies a little more bearable. If you don't mind me asking, what part of the nursing major didn't you like?

 

[RamonG3]

Agree with the person above, for all the programs I applied too, we needed all those science courses, a math course ( some asked for calculus), and then all asked for stats. The physics courses might also need to be calc based, although some programs accept algebra based math. It really depends on the schoo.

At this point, don't worry about how much a career pays (that should be one of the last things you consider). Obviously a very important factor since DPT school is expensive, but dont use that to make your initial decisions about what you want to do. If you plan on becoming an NP or something, I'm sure nursing grad school is expensive too. Start thinking about what you actually enjoy doing and ask to set up a phone interview with PTs or NPs. I'm sure theyd be happy to talk to you about their job since you cannot physically go in and observe them right now.

Hi thanks for the response! I know I shouldn't just be thinking about pay and have definitely considered other things about both careers like if I could see myself doing it in 20-30 years. While I do agree that pay isn't the only thing that should help me decide what I want to do, I think since I have an interest in both of these things pay should be one of the options I do consider. I don't want to regret going to pt school 20 years down the road because I still have 100k in student loans. The thing about nursing grad school is I've seen a lot of people talk about how the hospitals they work for pay for the nurses to go to grad school and obtain their masters. I will for sure try and set up an interview or hopefully a job shadow with both. Thanks for the advice!

 

[RamonG3]

You are definitely approaching this right looking at financial side as well as your personal strength and interests. It is a great idea to observe, so try to do that whenever you can. Also observe in different settings because work environment maybe a deal breaker.Nursing in general seems more hectic to me whereas PT can choose between hectic and petty chill settings. (Not sure how important this part of work for you.)
When looking at finances, also look at salaries and think 20 years from the time of graduation, don't look at the cost of the program only.
See if you can take pre-requisites that are needed for both nursing and PT first so that you could use them whatever program you end up choosing.
You will not need much math either in nursing or PT school or at work. If you are not good at math, it does not necessarily mean you will be struggling with chemistry. Take a chemistry course (will need it for both PT and nursing anyway) and see how it goes.

Hi, thank you for responding! I agree that nursing and pt definitely could be two different working environments but I could see myself doing both. When talking about finances with both nursing and pt I have one major concern. PTs seem to be more stuck at a certain salary than nurses do. All the information I've seen says PTs make around 80-90k no matter what they do (not taking into account PTs who just started working since they will obviously make less). In turn, nurses could make from much lower (60k) to a lot higher in some states (90k). This doesn't take into account that if I were to really want to increase my pay I could be an NP or something by going back to school and specializing in something. I'm just concerned that as a PT I will be stuck at the exact same spot for most if not all my career with very little room to grow in my profession. While I am concerned with my math, as I said in another reply if I just put a little extra time and ask for some help I'm sure I'll be alright in the math department. Thanks again for replying!

 

[ya1]

I'm just concerned that as a PT I will be stuck at the exact same spot for most if not all my career with very little room to grow in my profession.

No, you don't have to be stuck in the same spot with PT. There are lots and lots of continuing education courses and residencies that allow for professional growth. You can get specialized in many different areas (manual therapy for joints or soft tissue, prosthetics, neuro rehab, vestibular rehab, lymphedema management...).
For job settings, there is also a wide variety: outpatient clinics where you do lots of manual treatments, vs clinics where you mainly treat vertigo, vs inpatient rehab for people after SCI, vs VA clinics, vs ALF, vs home health, vs acute hospitals where you see patients for 3 days before they get discharged, vs SNF where you may work with the same person for 3 months...
Now if you like stability and want to work in 1 place for decades, it is very feasible. If you get bored with that, you can work in 2, 3, maybe 4 different settings at the same time. You can do travelling PT and travel around the country changing your job location every 3-6 months.
Pay rates also vary. But you probably will not make more than low 100K.