Nurses General Nursing
Published Mar 25, 2010
I was in the PA forum recently and I read from one PA that him and the doctor's that he works with regard NP's as just "smart nurses". So what are RN's to them??? Is this the general attitude of Doctor's towards nurses???
Kooky Korky, BSN, RN
5,216 Posts
Who cares what they think? You can't change it. Just do your own personal best.
rwright15
120 Posts
I have to remind dr's and pa's all the time of tests they should order, allergies that the pt has they forgot and wrote a script for, and so forth. Their ego's get in the way of them a lot of the time. When asked who my pcp is, it is always a NP. NP's rock in my book. They are more caring, usually don't mind getting in there and getting dirty. I've had more than one NP start an IV for me when I was slammed, splint an arm, bandage a lac, so on and so on... Like I said, NP's ROCK :)
Claritee
34 Posts
What a ridiculous comment! You have to be smart to get through nursing school to become a nurse, period. That particular simple-minded doctor was probably just upset because he/she can't control a NP the way he/she might be able to control a PA. My mother is a PA and she encouraged me to become a NP instead. I wonder why?
SharonH, RN
2,144 Posts
Your life will be so much easier if you stop giving a crap what doctors think of nurses. Trust me.
mammac5
727 Posts
I certainly can't speak for all doctors, but I can relate how one doc advised me. He and I worked together for several years, had a good working relationship and were always pretty blunt with each other. When I asked him for his viewpoint on my applying to PA programs, he flat-out told me that he would reference me for that if I wanted him to, but that he really thought I should check out NP programs instead.
The way he put it, PAs are basically extra hands for a physician and cannot work independently in most states. He told me I was too independent and opinionated to be anyone's extra set of hands and that I should practice as an NP where I could be more on my own.
DirtyBlackSocks
221 Posts
Don't NP's have more power in the medical field than PA's?
puravidaLV
396 Posts
yea, but both never correct anyone when someone comes up and says: " Doctor .........."
zinnnggg
sirI, MSN, APRN, NP
17 Articles; 44,737 Posts
yea, but both never correct anyone when someone comes up and says: " Doctor .........."zinnnggg
This one does. 100% of the time.
~Mi Vida Loca~RN, ASN, RN
5,259 Posts
This isn't true at all, at least, never is an absolute and I know plenty times it didn't happen. Where I get seen for my routine care it's filled with NP's PA's and Dr's. The Dr's are in and out a lot on rotations so you see the NP or PA most of the time. Anyway, I have seen many NP's specifically (I don't have a lot of experience with PA's) explain their role or correct people when referred to as Dr.