Nurse practitioners (NPs) and physician assistants (PAs) work hard to provide high-quality care to patients every single day at hospitals, private practices, clinics, and other healthcare facilities across the globe Their roles share some similarities, yet their training, certification processes and job responsibilities contrast in some roles they do.
What Do Nurse Practitioners Do?
Nurse practitioners play an important role in healthcare, no matter the type of facility they work in or the patient population they serve. NPs serve a primary role of monitoring patient health, providing direct care, and serving as a primary care provider.
An NP’s profession is primarily focused on monitoring patient health and providing direct care, which typically encompasses the following day-to-day duties:
- Recording and tracking patient medical histories, such as present symptoms and medication history, to provide accurate medical records and proper diagnoses
- Collecting information, data, and biological samples from patients
- Observing patients and completing detailed, routine examinations
- Ordering lab tests and diagnostic procedures
- Analyzing test results and creating patient treatment plans
- Prescribing medication and care, then monitoring the results
- Performing medical procedures based on their specializations
- Managing other members of the nursing team, including RNs, LPNs, CNAs, and other staff members
- And more
Nurse practitioners’ workloads vary depending on the field you work in (e.g., pediatrics, emergency services, psychiatric-mental health, and women’s health), but providing excellent patient care and medical expertise is always top priority.
What Do Physician Assistants Do?
Like nurse practitioners, physician assistants are vital to the healthcare community. They diagnose illnesses, create and oversee treatment, prescribe medications, and serve as healthcare providers.
By law, physician assistants work under direct supervision of a physician or surgeon, and, on a daily basis, PAs are typically:
- Recording patient medical histories
- Performing physical exams
- Educating patients on preventative healthcare and disease prevention
- Ordering and analyzing diagnostic and lab tests
- Diagnosing acute and chronic conditions
- Documenting relevant patient information and analyzing treatment plan results
- Prescribing medications
- Performing procedures and assisting in surgeries
- Making rounds in hospitals
- Performing clinical research and collaborating with the medical team
Differences Between Physician Assistants and Nurse Practitioners
1. Roles and Responsibilities
Although a physician assistant’s work responsibilities may overlap with those of nurse practitioners, there are differences between the two jobs.
Nurse practitioners generally specialize in serving a particular patient “population” that focuses on patients who may be of a certain age or have a particular condition, while PAs tend to focus on a specific area of medicine, such as emergency, internal, or surgery specialties. This can dramatically influence the daily responsibilities of both positions.
And, although both careers allow you to work autonomously, PAs are required to have an agreement to work with/under a physician, whereas NPs have full practice authority, allowing them more freedom and flexibility in their careers.
2. Training and Education
Nurse practitioners and physician assistants both undergo extensive clinical training and education, both in medicine and in important soft skills. Primarily, Nurse Practitioners adhere to a patient-focused nursing model, whereas Physician Assistants follow a disease-centered (medical) model of practice.
3. Salary and Job Outlook
Both physician assistants and nurse practitioners earn competitive salaries and benefits.
Both careers are predicted to grow quickly and steadily: 28 percent between 2023–2033 for PAs, and 40 percent for NPs, which means there are (and will continue to be) many opportunities and career paths in both fields.
Pros And Cons of Nurse Practitioner vs Physician Assistant
Becoming a nurse practitioner and physician assistant both come with their own unique set of benefits and challenges.
In the chart below, we provide a brief snapshot of the pros and cons of both NPs and PAs.
| Nurse Practitioners | Physician Assistants | |
| Pros | -Autonomy in practice -Specialization from the start -Nursing model -Opportunities for independent practice -Open to opportunities in education, research, administration, or policy roles -Great job outlook and relatively high salary | -Flexibility in specialization -Team-based approachMedical model -Training is unspecialized and largely consistent across programs -Great job outlook and relatively high salary |
| Cons | -Autonomy in practice is reduced or restricted in many states -Changing your speciality can be difficult | -No autonomous practice or independent clinic ownership -Scope of practice is dependent on the supervising physician |
Choosing the Best Healthcare Career Path
Becoming either a nurse practitioner or physician assistant can be a rewarding decision regardless of the route you take, as both will give you the opportunity to make a difference in the lives of patients. Indeed, you will often be directly responsible for saving people’s lives.
REFERENCES
- American Association of Nurse Practitioners, “What’s a Nurse Practitioner (NP)?”, AANP, 2024, https://www.aanp.org/about/all-about-nps/whats-a-nurse-practitioner.
- American Association of Nurse Practitioners, “State Practice Environment,” AANP, October 2023, https://www.aanp.org/advocacy/state/state-practice-environment.
- Physician Assistant Education Association, “What is a PA?”, PAEA, 2024, https://paeaonline.org/how-we-can-help/advisors/what-is-a-pa.
- American Academy of PAs, “What is a PA?”, AAPA, 2024, https://www.aapa.org/about/what-is-a-pa/.
- Nursing License Map, “How to Become a Nurse Practitioner,” Nursing License Map, October 2021, https://nursinglicensemap.com/advanced-practice-nursing/nurse-practitioner/.
- American Association of Colleges of Nursing, “Clinical Hours”, Frequently Asked Questions, https://www.aacnnursing.org/essentials/tool-kit/faqs.
- American Academy of Nurse Practitioners, “Nurse Practitioner (NP) Certification,” AANP, 2024, https://www.aanp.org/student-resources-old/np-certification
- www.regiscollege.edu/blog/nursing/nurse-practitioner-vs-physician-assistant
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JOHN NOORD
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