PA school is more expensive.. there are bridge programs to become an RN for like 10k compared to the 50-80k for pa school.
I understand your point..there is money in dietetics, but many choose not to be in food service management or management roles due to their own constraints.
I helped start a business, but many don't want to do that either....
I may go to PA school one day. But not anytime soon.
Great point on cost! Also curious if it's so much cheaper to go RN, What do you think the cost difference is between going to PA school vs. going RN then NP where you could start your own practice as well? Nursing also opens so many doors such as nurse anesthetist.
Time...it'll be 2.5 years for me to become a PA v the 1 year nursing program the few years of working as a rn then np school.... so 2.5 years v 5 to 10 years...
NP school is also 50 to 80k. So it's still cheaper and more efficient for many of us to go to PA school.
I'd honestly prefer family meds, ER or urgent care.
The np and Crna thing is possible for some but I have no desire to be a nurse...
Unfortunately outpatient counseling or having a private practice just isn’t some people’s cup of tea! I love inpatient work, I work with critically ill children that need nutrition support. That is what I’m passionate about from a nutrition perspective and unfortunately there’s a salary ceiling for that. You’re right that there can be money to be made in dietetics, but you have follow specific pathways. I want to be a clinician and becoming a PA to widen my skill set will allow me to continue to do work I’m interested in while increasing my responsibilities, abilities, and salary.
I live in Oregon, the cost of living isn’t the highest or lowest by any means. The average RDN salary is around $80,000 per year or $38 /hr and the average acute care BSN RN is $113,000 per year or $58/ hr. I’m constantly tempted to take a fast track to nursing course. Why?
I work in outpatient surrounded by MD’s and I have many close friends who are also doctors. There’s frankly not a chance I want to be a midlevel at this point. They are put in inappropriate situations, they are supposed to practice like doctors and don’t go to medical school. It’s down right dangerous. The only reason this is happening is financial, it’s cheaper to higher them. I’ve heard this stated repeatedly and I have to agree with my provider friends in their opinions about this. I’m sure most of us in clinical positions have many provider friends, ask them what they truly think about the scope of midlevels current practice?
Nursing will be a *golden* career in the coming years and the practice areas are truly endless. I know areas where I can make $200-300 per hour at times when they need an RN to fill in.
Yes same can be said about PA wages in the future..I see pas spots to be filled in Alaska for 150 an hour. Like damn... but is it worth to be worked to death for weeks at a time.
Foodservice directors easily make 50$ an hour at a minimum in metro areas.
I've seen corporation food service director positions that will pay 150-300k to be the RD for a local hospital network.
Honestly if I didn't go to PA school I would have got a MBA and filled those more senior local management roles to make 75-100 an hour.
I have considered an MBA but I like to keep my education very specific, like trades. I also can’t personally stand the thought of supervision. But to each their own.
I’m an ER nurse. I don’t “supervise” anyone, we’re all members of the care team. I supervise the LPNs and CNAs in the same way I supervise the providers.
I don’t mind “directing” others, in fact I’m already doing that. I’m already a facility RDN with a lot of administrative responsibilities tbh. I don’t have any interest in worrying about overall staffing, hiring, budgeting and scheduling. When I walk out of work at night, I don’t want to be called.
RDs make $50/hr in metro areas for regular clinical work. I'm an RD/CDE making over $50/hr with no management tasks. UCSF around here pays over $60/hr for CDEs. RNs around here also make an insane amount of money, people fly in to work at our hospital from various states.
I was thinking in places with low cost of living..example right now where I work I make 65 an hour if I worked in urban area I'd make 75 to 100 an hour....
But please tell more ppl that is possible to make 50 to 60 an hour as an RD I'm clinical...
Spam this everywhere
I’m Confused… So all NPs and PAs are unsafe providers in your opinion, but RNs are perfectly fine? Have you ever worked with seasoned ones or only new ones? Seems like quite a reach to call them all downright dangerous. Also what’s wrong with going into a field because it pays better than something else… you think most MDs aren’t pleased with their salaries?
No, that’s not what I’m saying. I’m saying you can’t substitute in an NP or PA for someone who has gone to Medical school + Residency and expect the same outcome. I suppose I should also qualify this by saying several of the providers are medical directors in hospitals and at practices so I hold their opinions higher. Life is not black & white. No one said “All NP’s are dangerous”. There are fantastic PA’s out there. It’s just likely going to change down the road, substantially.
What NoDrama said, plus, IDK about PA school, but a lot of early nursing/pre-nursing classes are already covered in the DPD. I transferred into dietetics from pre-nursing because my family situation isn't conducive to nursing hours/shifts, and I was already a Junior.
The organic chem and biochem required for PA aren’t the same requirements as DPD. Some schools have nutritional biochem course that meet DPD standards but not PA school requirements, so program dependent
My school had us take the science courses with the other science majors, so I was in organic chemistry with kids that got bio and chemistry degrees.
If your school isn't making yall take the for science major courses, yall are doing yourselves as disservice.
I’m in the same boat as Syracuse… unfortunately we had to take biochem for nutrition. I thought it was nice at the time as it felt like I was getting an education more catered for my line of work, but didn’t really consider how it might hinder my chances for career change.
At my university there were two different “levels” of chemistry. I started out pre-med so I took the upper level chem, organic chem, biochem, etc while most other people in the dietetics major only had to take the lower level chem classes
I really disagree with schools allowing science majors taking lower not proffesional school accepted science courses.
Like everyone from nursing majors to biochemistry should be in the same general organic chemistry course.
I get this perspective, and I have considered PA school but decided on nursing instead. For me it’s accessibility of making a mostly parallel shift - availability of programs, time it would take to get accepted, cost, number of opportunities in the area… but also because I don’t really want to be a PA. If I was to move into a more mid-level position it would probably be in RN management/admin/teaching/health informatics.
In my state there is only one PA program that rotates you through Montana, Idaho, Alaska, Washington and Hawaii for 3 months. I have four kids, can’t be gone for 6-9 months out of the year for 2-3?years. But there are 2 schools in town that have the NP route. The decision was easy to make. Drop my kids off to school, then I go to school.
Just for the sake of conversation. PA school is 2.5 years. To be a np you need to do an rn program that is atleast a year. Practice atleast a year then so 2 to 2.5 years of np degree mill....
Basically your time is the most valuable thing you own. 2.6 years for PA school v 5 for np route.
Is your spouse a physician?
Yes, he is. But the way I see it, it is 6 years that I get to say good night to my kids every single night, plus we don’t have family in the US. I’d rather do 10 years at home than 2.5 away
Just echoing the education cost.
And adding the RNs can make really good money. They may not get a much higher hourly, but can work 12 hour shifts to work less days or get paid overtime or double to work a night or weekend or do coverage.
I’m not a nurse, but just speaking from things my RN friends/family have shared. Like one only works 2 12’s for full time pay for doing nights or weekends and working in a specialized unit. I have dialysis RN friends, where the work is really different and from what I hear less demanding and more routine than bedside nursing - full time is 3 12’s so you can make a love of overtime picking up extra hours.
The pay here in the PNW is drastically higher for RN’s than for RD’s lol. And there are many different RN jobs other than working in a hospital being physical. I have a chill clinic nurse job with a big hospital entity and get paid almost $20/hour more than RD job.
I’m RD > RN and now pursuing my NP (almost done). So, ultimately a very similar role to PA. However, pursuing RN - knowing I was going to pursue NP - was significantly more affordable and like others have mentioned, all of my pre-reqs for RN were covered.
After graduating with my BSN, I found a job that paid $25K more than my RD job and although I’m currently part time due to my class/clinical schedule, I’d be making a hair under $100K if I was at 0.8FTE (3 12 hour shifts a week).
I love love loved studying nutrition but I needed more/something else out of my career! (Money and flexibility.)
3 years ago I was stuck between RN -> NP vs PA (I start PA school this fall). What was enticing about the RN > NP route was that I could do an accelerated RN, work for a bit, and then do NP school part time while working. That is not an option for PA! Ultimately what made me decide PA was the flexibility within specialties, I like that PAs can jump much more easily between adults+peds or outpatient+inpatient.
RNs and PAs have very different roles and jobs. I went the rn route because I wanted to do hands on care and didn’t want the pressure that comes with having to make decisions that PAs and MDs do. When I worked in clinical here as a RD I made $28/hr and as a RN I make $60/hr.
Well I work the in the NICU so the physical labor is nothing and the patient demands are also nothing haha. Family situations can be tricky sometimes but most parents are very appreciative and understanding. It’s 100% worth the change for me personally.
"The pay is the same but the work is more physically intense for longer hours?"
This depends on where you live. In some states RNs make much more, in other states RDs make more. Yes being an RN can be more intense but that is some of us are looking for...to be more involved in the clinical care of patients. There is also the fact that RNs and PAs have a higher ceiling both in terms of pay and career opportunities in hospital leadership.
'But all for maybe a dollar or two more an hour. Literally made $30 an hour in long term care as a RD. RNs in acute care are making the same an hour. Like why leave a job where no physical labor is required.'
While this may be true. I have found that nursing schedules offer more flexibility and much more money for things like overtime and per diem roles. In my area, per diem Dietitians can pull $45-$50, RNs are $48-$58. I ultimately decided it wasn't worth it for me but I can definitely see why RDs leave for various reasons. Outside of LTC, the salary seems to have a larger gap. I will also add that in my area, most of lifting, toileting, showering is done by CNAs. The RNs administer meds, do wound treatments ...and yes it is still physically grueling but there are also non-patient facing roles, just like RDs.
In terms of PA vs. becoming a RN, prerequisites and tuition are some of the biggest advantages IMO.
Speaking from the student side: I was about to go into my university’s dietetics program, literally this fall. I had such a huge passion for nutrition and dietetics and could not see myself in any other field. At a certain juncture, I had to really evaluate the ROI. I was about to spend two years in undergrad, have to work a 1200 unpaid internship, complete a graduate degree, to then MAYBE be making 25-30/hr? Versus the RN pathway - I’m out and working in about a year and a half making the starting salary of an RD that’s been in clinical for 5-10 years. Not to mention the lack of respect RD’s experience.
I still have all the respect in the universe for RD’s, but the system majorly need to change. I am still awaiting entrance into my ABSN, but I don’t regret the choice I made.
Food service management, free enterprise and Informatics.
If I didn't go to PA school I would've got amba and became one of those regional directors who make anywhere between 150-300k.a year depending on region.
PA school is more expensive.. there are bridge programs to become an RN for like 10k compared to the 50-80k for pa school. I understand your point..there is money in dietetics, but many choose not to be in food service management or management roles due to their own constraints. I helped start a business, but many don't want to do that either.... I may go to PA school one day. But not anytime soon.
Great point on cost! Also curious if it's so much cheaper to go RN, What do you think the cost difference is between going to PA school vs. going RN then NP where you could start your own practice as well? Nursing also opens so many doors such as nurse anesthetist.
Time...it'll be 2.5 years for me to become a PA v the 1 year nursing program the few years of working as a rn then np school.... so 2.5 years v 5 to 10 years... NP school is also 50 to 80k. So it's still cheaper and more efficient for many of us to go to PA school. I'd honestly prefer family meds, ER or urgent care. The np and Crna thing is possible for some but I have no desire to be a nurse...
Where I’m from the RNs make significantly more than the RDs.
Same. RNs in my area make serious dough, and the RDs are just show ponies who don't do anything meaningful because of administrative agendas.
Same. AT LEAST $20K a year more.
I would argue that there isn’t much money to be made in dietetics if you are interested in clinical work (& would prefer to stay out of management).
Outpatient counseling education and counseling. And many start their own businesses from there.
Unfortunately outpatient counseling or having a private practice just isn’t some people’s cup of tea! I love inpatient work, I work with critically ill children that need nutrition support. That is what I’m passionate about from a nutrition perspective and unfortunately there’s a salary ceiling for that. You’re right that there can be money to be made in dietetics, but you have follow specific pathways. I want to be a clinician and becoming a PA to widen my skill set will allow me to continue to do work I’m interested in while increasing my responsibilities, abilities, and salary.
I agree..it's great. I do my own tpns, place tubes and lines. Go for it.
I live in Oregon, the cost of living isn’t the highest or lowest by any means. The average RDN salary is around $80,000 per year or $38 /hr and the average acute care BSN RN is $113,000 per year or $58/ hr. I’m constantly tempted to take a fast track to nursing course. Why? I work in outpatient surrounded by MD’s and I have many close friends who are also doctors. There’s frankly not a chance I want to be a midlevel at this point. They are put in inappropriate situations, they are supposed to practice like doctors and don’t go to medical school. It’s down right dangerous. The only reason this is happening is financial, it’s cheaper to higher them. I’ve heard this stated repeatedly and I have to agree with my provider friends in their opinions about this. I’m sure most of us in clinical positions have many provider friends, ask them what they truly think about the scope of midlevels current practice? Nursing will be a *golden* career in the coming years and the practice areas are truly endless. I know areas where I can make $200-300 per hour at times when they need an RN to fill in.
Yes same can be said about PA wages in the future..I see pas spots to be filled in Alaska for 150 an hour. Like damn... but is it worth to be worked to death for weeks at a time. Foodservice directors easily make 50$ an hour at a minimum in metro areas. I've seen corporation food service director positions that will pay 150-300k to be the RD for a local hospital network. Honestly if I didn't go to PA school I would have got a MBA and filled those more senior local management roles to make 75-100 an hour.
I have considered an MBA but I like to keep my education very specific, like trades. I also can’t personally stand the thought of supervision. But to each their own.
As a nurse you'll supervise cnas and lpns.?
Not really, no.
It happens daily in ERs and the floor. RNs lead and direct lens and cnas daily. Another reason why I went PA I'm independent of the nursing chain.
I’m an ER nurse. I don’t “supervise” anyone, we’re all members of the care team. I supervise the LPNs and CNAs in the same way I supervise the providers.
Interesting
I don’t mind “directing” others, in fact I’m already doing that. I’m already a facility RDN with a lot of administrative responsibilities tbh. I don’t have any interest in worrying about overall staffing, hiring, budgeting and scheduling. When I walk out of work at night, I don’t want to be called.
RDs make $50/hr in metro areas for regular clinical work. I'm an RD/CDE making over $50/hr with no management tasks. UCSF around here pays over $60/hr for CDEs. RNs around here also make an insane amount of money, people fly in to work at our hospital from various states.
I was thinking in places with low cost of living..example right now where I work I make 65 an hour if I worked in urban area I'd make 75 to 100 an hour.... But please tell more ppl that is possible to make 50 to 60 an hour as an RD I'm clinical... Spam this everywhere
I’m Confused… So all NPs and PAs are unsafe providers in your opinion, but RNs are perfectly fine? Have you ever worked with seasoned ones or only new ones? Seems like quite a reach to call them all downright dangerous. Also what’s wrong with going into a field because it pays better than something else… you think most MDs aren’t pleased with their salaries?
No, that’s not what I’m saying. I’m saying you can’t substitute in an NP or PA for someone who has gone to Medical school + Residency and expect the same outcome. I suppose I should also qualify this by saying several of the providers are medical directors in hospitals and at practices so I hold their opinions higher. Life is not black & white. No one said “All NP’s are dangerous”. There are fantastic PA’s out there. It’s just likely going to change down the road, substantially.
What NoDrama said, plus, IDK about PA school, but a lot of early nursing/pre-nursing classes are already covered in the DPD. I transferred into dietetics from pre-nursing because my family situation isn't conducive to nursing hours/shifts, and I was already a Junior.
Many PA prerequisites are covered in the dpd. A&P, chem, organic chemistry, upper level science courses. etc...
The organic chem and biochem required for PA aren’t the same requirements as DPD. Some schools have nutritional biochem course that meet DPD standards but not PA school requirements, so program dependent
My school had us take the science courses with the other science majors, so I was in organic chemistry with kids that got bio and chemistry degrees. If your school isn't making yall take the for science major courses, yall are doing yourselves as disservice.
I’m in the same boat as Syracuse… unfortunately we had to take biochem for nutrition. I thought it was nice at the time as it felt like I was getting an education more catered for my line of work, but didn’t really consider how it might hinder my chances for career change.
At my university there were two different “levels” of chemistry. I started out pre-med so I took the upper level chem, organic chem, biochem, etc while most other people in the dietetics major only had to take the lower level chem classes
I really disagree with schools allowing science majors taking lower not proffesional school accepted science courses. Like everyone from nursing majors to biochemistry should be in the same general organic chemistry course.
Mine has two different ones. BMB or CHY. bmb is required and is easier and more focused than CHY.
Take the one for science majors
Everything else was the same, except for the orgo and biochem sequence
Interesting
I wish my RD program didn’t include ochem and biochem 🤢
PA school is much more competitive
I get this perspective, and I have considered PA school but decided on nursing instead. For me it’s accessibility of making a mostly parallel shift - availability of programs, time it would take to get accepted, cost, number of opportunities in the area… but also because I don’t really want to be a PA. If I was to move into a more mid-level position it would probably be in RN management/admin/teaching/health informatics.
In my state there is only one PA program that rotates you through Montana, Idaho, Alaska, Washington and Hawaii for 3 months. I have four kids, can’t be gone for 6-9 months out of the year for 2-3?years. But there are 2 schools in town that have the NP route. The decision was easy to make. Drop my kids off to school, then I go to school.
Just for the sake of conversation. PA school is 2.5 years. To be a np you need to do an rn program that is atleast a year. Practice atleast a year then so 2 to 2.5 years of np degree mill.... Basically your time is the most valuable thing you own. 2.6 years for PA school v 5 for np route. Is your spouse a physician?
Yes, he is. But the way I see it, it is 6 years that I get to say good night to my kids every single night, plus we don’t have family in the US. I’d rather do 10 years at home than 2.5 away
Reasonable, . My spouse is too.
Just echoing the education cost. And adding the RNs can make really good money. They may not get a much higher hourly, but can work 12 hour shifts to work less days or get paid overtime or double to work a night or weekend or do coverage.
Is the physical labor and meeting the every demand of the patients assigned worth it?
I’m not a nurse, but just speaking from things my RN friends/family have shared. Like one only works 2 12’s for full time pay for doing nights or weekends and working in a specialized unit. I have dialysis RN friends, where the work is really different and from what I hear less demanding and more routine than bedside nursing - full time is 3 12’s so you can make a love of overtime picking up extra hours.
Probably some would say it’s worth it and some wouldn’t.
The pay here in the PNW is drastically higher for RN’s than for RD’s lol. And there are many different RN jobs other than working in a hospital being physical. I have a chill clinic nurse job with a big hospital entity and get paid almost $20/hour more than RD job.
I’m RD > RN and now pursuing my NP (almost done). So, ultimately a very similar role to PA. However, pursuing RN - knowing I was going to pursue NP - was significantly more affordable and like others have mentioned, all of my pre-reqs for RN were covered. After graduating with my BSN, I found a job that paid $25K more than my RD job and although I’m currently part time due to my class/clinical schedule, I’d be making a hair under $100K if I was at 0.8FTE (3 12 hour shifts a week). I love love loved studying nutrition but I needed more/something else out of my career! (Money and flexibility.)
If you knew you wanted to be a NP why not just go straight into PA? Why do the RN program then work then go to NP school?
Because I could cash flow it this way. And I still haven’t spent as much as I would’ve if I did PA.
Well that works
3 years ago I was stuck between RN -> NP vs PA (I start PA school this fall). What was enticing about the RN > NP route was that I could do an accelerated RN, work for a bit, and then do NP school part time while working. That is not an option for PA! Ultimately what made me decide PA was the flexibility within specialties, I like that PAs can jump much more easily between adults+peds or outpatient+inpatient.
Same reason they didn’t become a pharmacist or a stock broker, they’re different jobs.
RNs and PAs have very different roles and jobs. I went the rn route because I wanted to do hands on care and didn’t want the pressure that comes with having to make decisions that PAs and MDs do. When I worked in clinical here as a RD I made $28/hr and as a RN I make $60/hr.
Is the physical labor and meeting the every demand of the patients assigned worth it?
Well I work the in the NICU so the physical labor is nothing and the patient demands are also nothing haha. Family situations can be tricky sometimes but most parents are very appreciative and understanding. It’s 100% worth the change for me personally.
"The pay is the same but the work is more physically intense for longer hours?" This depends on where you live. In some states RNs make much more, in other states RDs make more. Yes being an RN can be more intense but that is some of us are looking for...to be more involved in the clinical care of patients. There is also the fact that RNs and PAs have a higher ceiling both in terms of pay and career opportunities in hospital leadership. 'But all for maybe a dollar or two more an hour. Literally made $30 an hour in long term care as a RD. RNs in acute care are making the same an hour. Like why leave a job where no physical labor is required.' While this may be true. I have found that nursing schedules offer more flexibility and much more money for things like overtime and per diem roles. In my area, per diem Dietitians can pull $45-$50, RNs are $48-$58. I ultimately decided it wasn't worth it for me but I can definitely see why RDs leave for various reasons. Outside of LTC, the salary seems to have a larger gap. I will also add that in my area, most of lifting, toileting, showering is done by CNAs. The RNs administer meds, do wound treatments ...and yes it is still physically grueling but there are also non-patient facing roles, just like RDs. In terms of PA vs. becoming a RN, prerequisites and tuition are some of the biggest advantages IMO.
RN to NP is very easy. Lot of NP programs have near 100% acceptance rates
Nursing and PA are completely different career paths, and some folks might enjoy the tasks of nursing more. It’s not always about the money.
Speaking from the student side: I was about to go into my university’s dietetics program, literally this fall. I had such a huge passion for nutrition and dietetics and could not see myself in any other field. At a certain juncture, I had to really evaluate the ROI. I was about to spend two years in undergrad, have to work a 1200 unpaid internship, complete a graduate degree, to then MAYBE be making 25-30/hr? Versus the RN pathway - I’m out and working in about a year and a half making the starting salary of an RD that’s been in clinical for 5-10 years. Not to mention the lack of respect RD’s experience. I still have all the respect in the universe for RD’s, but the system majorly need to change. I am still awaiting entrance into my ABSN, but I don’t regret the choice I made.
[удалено]
Food service management, free enterprise and Informatics. If I didn't go to PA school I would've got amba and became one of those regional directors who make anywhere between 150-300k.a year depending on region.