Is physical therapy or nursing a better major?

Question

i live in san francisco which many know is an expensive city, and im having a hard time deciding between these similar majors, i am aware therapy will take longer to complete but im not sure if it has as good benefits money wise as nursing does and i can complete it faster.

Answer 1

I may be biased because I am a nursing major. But, it sounds like you're concerned about money and you said yourself you can do nursing faster and has good benefits, lots of job opportunities, and good pay.

What prevented me from becoming a physical therapy major is something I never thought about much. I pictured myself showing patients different exercises, helping them out a bit. However, many of these patients are in pain and you have to motivate them to continue therapy and do some things they dont want to do.

Also with  nursing you can go into many different fields. If you dont have the stomach for the ER you can be a traveling nurse or work with children.

But in the end what is most beneficial is doing what you want to do. If you want to do physical therapy it shouldn't matter that nursing is 'better.' Happiness comes first and foremost.

Answer 2

Although both fields have similar earning potential, for a nurse to earn top dollar really requires as much education as a PT...if not more.  Average salary for a new graduate PT and RN still favors PTs.  Both careers can earn up to/near $100,000 once they reach the management level...which for RNs often means they've gone back and compeleted their master's degree.  Nurse practictioners also have a very high earning potential, but again, this requires further significant continuing education.  

As an average, PTs earn about $10,000 more than RNs, but remember that there is signficant variability.  Yet, 50% of RNs are earning between only about $47-69,000 whereas 50% of PTs earn between $55-78,000. Both jobs continue to grow in their prospects.

An advantage of nursing over PT is that you CAN start working sooner than a PT and that it is easier for an RN to continue their education on a part time basis to complete their BSN and master's degree.  For a PTA to become a PT, unfortunately requires them to essentially stop working for 6 years and go back to school full time.  

An advantage of PT of nursing is generally better working conditions with less evenings, weekends and holidays (depending on your setting).