NP takeover.

[GS2011]

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Experienced ICU Nurse here. Accepted into NP school but pretty I’m done with this path.

I feel like a traitor considering this was a path that I was considering, however the deeper I delve, and more I research, the more I’m convinced that medical education is the education I need to effectively treat patients. I want to understand the SCIENCE. Not just crank out APA papers and learn superficial facts without any deep scientific understanding to hold that knowledge or algorithms together.

One of the prospects that scares me away from medicine is the takeover of healthcare by NPs. I fear that NPs will drive down the salaries because they are inexpensive when compared to physicians. As it is, I already am aware that physicians across the nation are facing many issues with the loss of autonomy and control over the care they deliver to patients.

Coming from a nursing background, I can attest to the fact that nursing has historically been a profession that “just takes it“. Nurses in general are given more responsibilities, tasks, more patients, and more duties. Nurses just do it with their head bowed down. Unfortunately this mentality of “taking it” has created a profession that has become a pushover profession. Some it may also have to do with the nauseating martyr mentality “it’s for the patient”/“it’s my calling”. Nurses simply joke and complain, but rarely act. Especially in nonunion states.

All this is relevant to my point, I fear that as hospitals blend the lines between a physician and NP (for financial incentive), they too will increasingly begin to treat physicians like factory line workers, not giving any respect to their decisions, opinions, or expertise. I know from lurking around forums/Facebook that physicians are already facing this issue as it is.

So is this apocalyptic view of medicine true? Do you think that a future in medicine means HUGE debt with poor compensation comparable with the compensation of NPs? Increasing disrespect from people in suits and insurance companies? Disregard for your medical opinion?

My heart wants to pursue medicine but the above scenario scares me, and I as much as I owe it to myself to pursue my dream, I also owe it to myself to be happy - and most importantly be able to pay off my debt.

 

[Ultimax]

Geez, you are thinking too much. The sky isnt falling anywhere. It is a joke to think NPs can replace physicians, the amount of training and knowledge are not the same. NPs can handle simple cases but mot complex cases, period.
I am an NP, do I refer my patients with Chronic Kidney Disease Stage IV or Goodpasture syndrome to another NP for management? Heck no, I want a Nephrologist, Rheumatologist, and Pulmonologist to manage the patient and I make sure my supervising physician is involved before I kill someone.
The physicians need to stand up for themselves, which is what I plan to do once I graduate. Im not a traitor, I just know my knowledge limit, and I will make sure that once i an attending, patient safety is my utmost priority. I have made shameful mistakes as an NP because I simple do not know what I am doing, like sending asymptomatic patient with blood sugar of 300 to the ER because I thought it was dangerous to manage outpatients.
The sky is always falling for some people, but remember that most folks here are premeds who have never worked in hospital or truly exposed to the field. As long as your are a physician, you always have a job. You are not the first, nor will be the last, to leave nursing profession to go to medical school. Use your nursing experience to help patients, and to make sure that patients with complex cases are managed by well trained physicians before things go downhill.