PA/NP in surgery

[WhitecatBlackcat]

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For someone who wants to work in the OR, would it be better to go PA or NP? What are you able to do in the OR? Is it harder to find a job as an NP vs PA?

 

[Noisewater-TDX]

For someone who wants to work in the OR, would it be better to go PA or NP? What are you able to do in the OR? Is it harder to find a job as an NP vs PA?

I see more PAs in the OR assisting with procedures.

 

[acbakshi]

For someone who wants to work in the OR, would it be better to go PA or NP? What are you able to do in the OR? Is it harder to find a job as an NP vs PA?

They are usually first assist. Retract, hand instruments, suction, and maybe close the incision.

 

[SpartanWolverine]

I have also seen more PAs (vs NPs) in the OR. What you do depends on the type of surgery. For example with cardiac surgery you might do vein graft harvesting independently and then first-assist with the rest.

Honestly the major hat for surgical PAs that I've seen is for consults, discharges, and managing the day-to-day stuff for post-op patients.

 

[pamac]

I’ve seen NPs in the surgical realm, as well as RN first-assist (which is a career path with its own certifications and education behind it). Those aren’t the more common approaches to working in the OR, but they don’t seem to struggle to get work. The nursing pathways aren’t typically for entry level folks, whereas PAs are really set up to fill that niche nicely due to their extensive training and their relationship with supervising physicians. They get a lot of good training really quickly over the course of two years, and hit the workforce ready to fit in to that role as a physician extender. So in that sense, it is a more direct path, which you might see as being “easier”. PA prereqs are difficult, and their training and education is very robust, with a lot of competition to get into PA school, so it’s not an “easy” thing to take on, but it is the more straightforward of your options.

 

[pamac]

And folks that are PAs and NPs and Rn first assist soo more than just hand instruments and suction, etc. that actually sounds a lot like what a surgical tech does. Your surgical first assists will be doing a lot of what you see a surgeon doing, but obviously under supervision. So like in spine surgery, you can often see the PAs doing a lot of work that extends right up to where the liability and circumstances require the skill of the surgeons hand. So a PA might be doing all of the work on the approach to the target tissue, and all of the work closing up, with the surgeon stepping in to address the issue. They also can be found doing things on a different part of the patient while the surgeon works at the target site. They essentially can do just about anything that the physician needs them to handle.

 

[XannyBarz]

If you want to do surgery you need to go to med school. If you want to see surgical patients in clinic or pass instruments then do PA or NP.

 

[pamac]

• Again.... surgical techs pass the instruments. Overall, it’s enlightening to get into a surgical suite with a surgeon and PA to see the extent that PAs perform. Different surgeries allow for different levels of participation for the PA. I’d tend to agree with anyone who suggests that if surgery is your passion, then investing 10 years or more into becoming a physician would be the preferred route. Otherwise, you really are in the helper role. The surgeons are the main event... or basically are the whole event.

 

[jl lin]

I am not hating on NPs; but in general, I think for this PA would be the better route. RN first assistant is exception. Overall, serious surgery means med school and then the intense fire that is surgical residency and fellowship. In general, the latter is a younger person's game. That to me appears to be the toughest grind of all--surgical residency and fellowship.

 

[nlax30]

Just echoing what others have said, in the OR I tend to see PAs assisting while NPs tend to be on the clinical side. I'm sure there's some historical and education basis to this as I know NPs on the clinical side who do end up performing certain bedside type procedures (central lines, chest tubes, implantable loop recorder insertions, office based procedures, etc...).

 

[MidwestPAC]

They are usually first assist. Retract, hand instruments, suction, and maybe close the incision.

HAHA! Maybe close the incision...WTF kind of rotations are you in? A surgical tech or RNFA can retract and hand instruments and even a RNFA can close minor things.

PAs do a lot more than just hand or retract. They do first assist in all types of surgeries, close cases, harvest veins, do independent procedures (such as in IR), etc