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  1. Mar 7, '08 by CC999
    What are the benefits of becoming a nurse rather than a doctor?

  2. 13 Comments so far...

  3. Mar 7, '08 by SteveNNP
    More one on one time with patients, ability to care for whole patient, both physically and emotionally

    Forming close relationships with patients and their families

    Much more flexible hours, no call, more family time, get to leave work at work.

    You work on one unit, instead of all over the hospital

    2-4 years of school as opposed to 12-14.
    Elvish, Suninmyheart, and Skeletor like this.
  4. Mar 7, '08 by CABG patch kid
    Steve pretty much summed it up, another thing to add is that there is a LOT of flexibility in nursing. You can do med/surg and move on to emergency, decide you hate that and go to post-partum, get bored there and go to L&D, get some experience scrubbing in and circulating then decide to move to the OR permanently. Or whatever else you can dream of if you get the picture. Doctors on the other hand tend to specialize in just one area of medicine because they have to be experts in their field. It takes a lot of time just to specialize in one area, where as nursing school gives you a general overview of many fields that you can specialize in on the job, in a much shorter amount of time than a doctor can.

    That's not to say that nurses aren't experts in their field of specialty though, its just that we have a lot more choices if we change our minds down the road.
    Suninmyheart likes this.
  5. Mar 7, '08 by RNperdiem
    Let's add:

    Freedom from years of indentured servitude called "residency".
    Freedom from starting a career hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt.
    Nursing can combine career and family more easily.
    Nursing jobs are plentiful and varied.
    Nursing may not pay as well as medicine, but the pay is quite good especially if you went to community college and graduated debt free.
    Less investment in time and money in a nursing education.
    Suninmyheart likes this.
  6. Mar 7, '08 by TazziRN
    Let's add:

    They're two different things!
    Elvish, DutchgirlRN, leslie :-D, and 2 others like this.
  7. Mar 7, '08 by YellowFinchFan
    Quote from CC999
    What are the benefits of becoming a nurse rather than a doctor?
    Sadly, I wouldn't recommend either as a career choice for my kids. One is going to law school, one is going to college for business.

    The pay is not worth the stress of healthcare.
    suanna likes this.
  8. Mar 9, '08 by CC999
    Thank you SteveRN21, carebearRN08, RNperdiem,
    YellowFinchFan, etc, very heplfull replies.
  9. Mar 9, '08 by TazziRN
    Ouch...........
  10. Mar 9, '08 by leslie :-D
    Quote from TazziRN
    Ouch...........
    oh, honey...

    don't fret.

    your name's, "etc".

    leslie
  11. Mar 9, '08 by TazziRN
    Quote from earle58
    oh, honey...

    don't fret.

    your name's, "etc".

    leslie