Why not nursing.

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Dane07MD said:
Simple answer to this question...

In the medical world, physicians are the ones who execute the orders. Nurses spend a lot of time with an individual patients and carry out the orders issued by the doctors. If you want a lot of patient contact and care, and don't mind taking orders, you might be better suited as a nurse. With the ability to execute important decisions and being the reason for a patient's successful recovery, as well as taking on the responsibility for all of the care given to a patient, you're more of the doctor type.
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.

Bedside nursing is back breaking labor. Although doctors have a higher risk for malpractice, nurses have a higher risk for having work-related injury.
 
My big reason is "the why." My friend is in nursing school and she never gets the underlying reasons for what she is doing. She is taught how to administer drugs, start IV's, and do other procedures, but she is never given the underlying reason why she is doing them? I want "the why."
 
Why medicine over nursing?

Because med school accepted me. 😀

J/k. I did med school instead of other health professions because I wanted a more indepth knowledge of medicine, I wanted to have prescription power and to diagnose patients. NP can do that to an extent but there are still restrictions and many NP programs require years working before you can enter their programs.

Doctors are able to prescribe and diagnose without too many legal hurdles. Also, nursing programs seem scattered and there's a large variation in what they expect of you. Medical education is much more standarized.

Money *is* a factor in my decision. I was making $50k/yr coming out of college. Going back to school for nursing to make something comparable is not a sound financial investment. While med school is longer and more expensive, I will end up financially in a better spot than if I had gone nursing.
 
like research and want the science background? then why not PhD in a health-science related field?
 
FenderHM said:
like research and want the science background? then why not PhD in a health-science related field?
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It's hard to have a direct impact on the patient if you're stuck doing studies in the lab. Yes, your research will eventually help someone, but in the short term being simply a PhD won't get you near patients, which is the whole point.
Personally I agree with the fact that nurses rarely know "why". I see this all the time at the hospital I work at. I'll ask a question, why does low sodium have X effect? or something similar "I dunno" is the response I"m going to get 9/10 times.
Plus, I'm a control freak and I don't think that spending my life executing orders on behalf of the MD would be hard. I know that I won't be totally free and autonomous as a doctor, but the amount of latitude permitted physicians is much greater.
 
ugh nurses might get paid as much and do research as well, but doctors are more good:luck: .
 
As a nurse I may have a view slightly different than others here, so here goes:

Nurses for the most part are in the role of carrying out orders. The doctor formulates the diagnosis and develops the treatment plan, and the nurse carries out the majority of the dr's plan. The nurse is responsible for letting the doc know of any deterioration/improvement in pt status. In my department (an ER) we're pretty lucky in that we have a very collaborative relationship with most of our docs (there's always some exceptions) and they usually take our input/opinions into consideration.

So why not nursing? For me, while I don't mind carrying out orders, I'd rather be the one doing the diagnosing and prescribing. I want to have the knowledge base that allows you to see something and develop a plan of care that treats it. For example, we had a kid come in one night with a hx of vomiting/diarrhea x3-4 days. Most of us nurses just figured it was a virus. Then we saw her labwork, which was so screwed up we didn't know what to think. The doc takes one look at it and says, I think she has HUS (hemolytic uremic syndrome). None of us had ever heard of it (and some nurses had 10+ yrs exp), and he (2 yrs out of residency) takes one look at the labs and knows what it is. That's why not nursing. Nursing is great for some, and I admire those that have been doing it for a long time and continue to love it. I like my job, but after 3 years, I know it's not for me. I want to have a much broader knowledge base and scope of practice. I don't think one profession is better than the other; they're very different and equally deserving of respect.

Speaking of pay, I'm 3 years out of nursing school (with a BSN), and my take home pay after taxes is around $30,000-$32,000. And I'm in a larger city. And that's WITH my critical care/night shift/weekend differentials. I don't expect to make a doctor's salary (or even close to it), but come on! Doing work that saves peoples lives deserves a little more than that.

Anyway, that's just my $0.02. It's a personal choice and one that should be very well researched before one is chosen.
 
*Roxie* said:
The doc takes one look at it and says, I think she has HUS (hemolytic uremic syndrome). None of us had ever heard of it (and some nurses had 10+ yrs exp), and he (2 yrs out of residency) takes one look at the labs and knows what it is.
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Did she eat spinach?!?!?

And some nurses DO know what that is 😉 .
 
*Roxie* said:
As a nurse I may have a view slightly different than others here, so here goes:

Nurses for the most part are in the role of carrying out orders. The doctor formulates the diagnosis and develops the treatment plan, and the nurse carries out the majority of the dr's plan. The nurse is responsible for letting the doc know of any deterioration/improvement in pt status. In my department (an ER) we're pretty lucky in that we have a very collaborative relationship with most of our docs (there's always some exceptions) and they usually take our input/opinions into consideration.

So why not nursing? For me, while I don't mind carrying out orders, I'd rather be the one doing the diagnosing and prescribing. I want to have the knowledge base that allows you to see something and develop a plan of care that treats it. For example, we had a kid come in one night with a hx of vomiting/diarrhea x3-4 days. Most of us nurses just figured it was a virus. Then we saw her labwork, which was so screwed up we didn't know what to think. The doc takes one look at it and says, I think she has HUS (hemolytic uremic syndrome). None of us had ever heard of it (and some nurses had 10+ yrs exp), and he (2 yrs out of residency) takes one look at the labs and knows what it is. That's why not nursing. Nursing is great for some, and I admire those that have been doing it for a long time and continue to love it. I like my job, but after 3 years, I know it's not for me. I want to have a much broader knowledge base and scope of practice. I don't think one profession is better than the other; they're very different and equally deserving of respect.

Speaking of pay, I'm 3 years out of nursing school (with a BSN), and my take home pay after taxes is around $30,000-$32,000. And I'm in a larger city. And that's WITH my critical care/night shift/weekend differentials. I don't expect to make a doctor's salary (or even close to it), but come on! Doing work that saves peoples lives deserves a little more than that.

Anyway, that's just my $0.02. It's a personal choice and one that should be very well researched before one is chosen.
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Thanks for your input. It was great to get a nurse's opinion on this.
 
*Roxie* said:
Well, this one does now! 🙂
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And she will make a great doctor, too 😀.

spinach=nasty bad e. coli recently, which can lead to HUS, which may have landed some patients in my hospital. yay wisconsin, land of enteral pathogens.
 
Hey, Greg Focker was a male nurse, he was cool.
 
bisulfite said:
Hey, Greg Focker was a male nurse, he was cool.
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My dad's a nurse, and every time I visit him, he tells me 'oh yeah, I work hard, but you're going to work harder being a doctor'. Course, now he thinks that I'm a shoe in for med school because I have a 4.0 with one year of college so far.
 
asunshine said:
And she will make a great doctor, too 😀.

spinach=nasty bad e. coli recently, which can lead to HUS, which may have landed some patients in my hospital. yay wisconsin, land of enteral pathogens.
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Whee, crypto!

(I'm a Sconnie girl myself.)
 
allthaticanbe said:
I was sitting with several people from my program. The group consisted of mostly "premed students". When the subject of medicine and premed was brought up, alot of people said they want to go into medicine to save lives and help people. So of course the question of why not nursing was brought up. And most people couldn't answer this question.
I understand that medicine and nursing is very different but at the same time they are similar in the goal, which I presume is to help people.
Anyways I was just wondering what other people thought of this question.
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My simple answer: I want to be involved in the decision making process. Being a Medical technologist I came to enjoy and value the challenges of the diagnotic process.
 
allthaticanbe said:
I was sitting with several people from my program. The group consisted of mostly "premed students". When the subject of medicine and premed was brought up, alot of people said they want to go into medicine to save lives and help people. So of course the question of why not nursing was brought up. And most people couldn't answer this question.
I understand that medicine and nursing is very different but at the same time they are similar in the goal, which I presume is to help people.
Anyways I was just wondering what other people thought of this question.
Click to expand...

The difference is motivation. Nurses take 2-4 years of classes and then are able to do most of the hands-on actual medical stuff, but they also have to clean up excrement and such. Docs take 8 years of classes plus residency so that they can do some more complex procedures, but mostly so that they can use bigger words to describe the same thing.

To take a line from Dr Cox (Scrubs), people become doctors for one of three reasons: Money, Power, and Girls. If you really think about it, no matter how altruistic your reasons for choosing medicine are, choosing to be a doctor somehow ties into one or more of those things. You like the prestige associated with being a doctor, you want to impress people, or the idea of a six figure income really makes you feel secure. Either way, at the end of the day, part of you wants one of those three, otherwise you would be happy to be a nurse.
 
After working as a CNA for a little while, I have to tell you that nursing is a pain... literally! All of the physical work it involves can really wear your body out. They really hammer you about body mechanics, but no one ever really has enough time to worry about raising and lowering the bed and using the gait belt, ect. Of course, the higher you go in nursing, the less of the grunt work you end up with, but it's always there.

Why medicine over nursing?

Two words:

Bed Pan.
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Ahh, a little bedpan never hurt anybody. 🙂
 
*Roxie* said:
As a nurse I may have a view slightly different than others here, so here goes:

Nurses for the most part are in the role of carrying out orders. The doctor formulates the diagnosis and develops the treatment plan, and the nurse carries out the majority of the dr's plan. The nurse is responsible for letting the doc know of any deterioration/improvement in pt status. In my department (an ER) we're pretty lucky in that we have a very collaborative relationship with most of our docs (there's always some exceptions) and they usually take our input/opinions into consideration.

So why not nursing? For me, while I don't mind carrying out orders, I'd rather be the one doing the diagnosing and prescribing. I want to have the knowledge base that allows you to see something and develop a plan of care that treats it. For example, we had a kid come in one night with a hx of vomiting/diarrhea x3-4 days. Most of us nurses just figured it was a virus. Then we saw her labwork, which was so screwed up we didn't know what to think. The doc takes one look at it and says, I think she has HUS (hemolytic uremic syndrome). None of us had ever heard of it (and some nurses had 10+ yrs exp), and he (2 yrs out of residency) takes one look at the labs and knows what it is. That's why not nursing. Nursing is great for some, and I admire those that have been doing it for a long time and continue to love it. I like my job, but after 3 years, I know it's not for me. I want to have a much broader knowledge base and scope of practice. I don't think one profession is better than the other; they're very different and equally deserving of respect.

Speaking of pay, I'm 3 years out of nursing school (with a BSN), and my take home pay after taxes is around $30,000-$32,000. And I'm in a larger city. And that's WITH my critical care/night shift/weekend differentials. I don't expect to make a doctor's salary (or even close to it), but come on! Doing work that saves peoples lives deserves a little more than that.

Anyway, that's just my $0.02. It's a personal choice and one that should be very well researched before one is chosen.
Click to expand...

good luck:luck:
 
allthaticanbe said:
I was sitting with several people from my program. The group consisted of mostly "premed students". When the subject of medicine and premed was brought up, alot of people said they want to go into medicine to save lives and help people. So of course the question of why not nursing was brought up. And most people couldn't answer this question.
I understand that medicine and nursing is very different but at the same time they are similar in the goal, which I presume is to help people.
Anyways I was just wondering what other people thought of this question.
Click to expand...

One of the best reason to want to be a MD is to be able to answer this...
 
OSU ACTON said:
Working as an EMT I was able to see how many different roles play out in the hospital. Nurses are smart and hard working, but rarely get to develop long term relationships with patients. I honestly can't tell you the name of a nurse in my daughter's peds office, but know the 3 docs I've seen. As a doctor I want the intimate relationship with the patient that is often unavailable to nurses. Nurses provide intimate care, but I would argue that there is a lack of reciprocity.
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Your post makes sense, but a NP might be in even more of a position to refer and help, since they often get to have more time with the patient. And the patient sees the NP independently, without having to see a doctor.

Also, without the Masters', public health, home health, and hospice nurses do a lot of long-term care and referring. An EM physician, for example, may not develop any long-term relationships with patients (except for the Saturday night regulars 😉).
 
The answer is quite simple.

MD= Makes decisions

RN= Reads notes

I like giving orders but hate reading. MD FTW.
 
mvenus929 said:
My dad's a nurse, and every time I visit him, he tells me 'oh yeah, I work hard, but you're going to work harder being a doctor'. Course, now he thinks that I'm a shoe in for med school because I have a 4.0 with one year of college so far.
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That must be so tough for you, how are you dealing with that?
 
I decided medical school before i heard this, but this is why.

A nurse stopped a conversation I was having with my attending by saying "What are we going to do about this low creatinine?" This was when I was in undergrad, working as a tech.

I have since heard it three times, but two were from the VA, so I guess they don't really count.
 
Xypathos said:
Great, one of these people.
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I am a nursing student here in the phil. Yeah, I can definitely say that nursing is for "CHICKS"...

I want to be a doctor coz it's hardcore. Some say that it will not suits me well. Why not?

Maybe a few years later I can be one of those surgeons here! Yipeeeeeee...

would that be possible anyway?🙂
 
I want to be the one in charge; I have enough confidence in my intelligence and decision making skills to be the one making the life or death choices. And if that's not enough, the difference in salary comes to mind as well.
 
Why be a doctor rather than a nurse?

As much as I respect nurses I would never want to be doing what they do for the rest of my life.
I am a CNA right now.
I don't think I could get as much job satisfaction being a nurse. Yes I do like helping people, but helping people as a nurse is different than helping people as a doctor.
I suppose that sounds kind of selfish doesnt it?
To be honest I want to give it my all to help someone, find out what is causing them trouble and then finding them therapy, surgery, medication or what else is needed to demolish the discomfort.
I don't want to follow someone elses idea of what should be done i.e.following doctors orders as a nurse.
I also think I would be good at being a doctor. Not just good, Phenomenal.
I like and I am good at science and math. Though I know thats not all doctors are based on. I just plain ole like learning.

While I do have time to think about what I really want to do as my career, I don't need it(I am only going to be a junior in high school).
I know I want to be a doctor.
and I have known for quite a while.
and I will do everything I can to become one even if it takes a few years longer.
 
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