Nurse vs. doctor

Is there really any question??

DUH?????

I worked in a medical center with a lot of interns and residents. They worked hard and worked long hours. However, I noticed that after they went into private practice, they looked a lot more relaxed and better groomed and one memorable one even quit biting his nails!

Depends on the nurse and depends on the doctor. We are definitely not as well compensated, but that has more to do with level of responsibility and autonomy than hard work

God save us from these "us vs. them" mentality generalizations. Doctors are my collegues, as are CNA's and LVN's and Respiratory
Techs and X-ray Techs and Lab Techs and all the people I work with in the hospital. There are hardworking ladies and gentlemen in all these categories and there are lazy do-nothings and there are those in the middle. The doctors I work with work very hard. I've said before that our docs in our little rural hospital take turns manning/womaning the ER and that entails doing your regular office hours, seeing upwards of 40 or so patients a day and then showing up as the ER doc on Friday afternoon at 5:30 p.m. and staying until Monday at 8:30 a.m. They are the only doc on call for the whole weekend and sleep only when there are no patients. That is hard. It is hard on the mind, body and soul . .not to mention their families. I've only been a nurse for 4 years but I have to say my greatest disappointment has been the backbiting and badmouthing that goes on in this profession. Stereotyping and generalizing is so counterproductive. It creates a hostile working atmosphere . . ..maybe this is a small part of why some nurses want to leave the profession. . . . If you really want to know who does the hardest physical labor in a hospital, try talking to your CNA's or Housekeepers. We are all supposed to be a team, all working hard together for the patient. Making these generalizations is just plain wrong.

Stevie, I have to agree with you. All though we have different scopes of care, all of the people you mentioned work hard. Just like when a nurse is sitting down by the nurses station, to some it might be as if they are resting, but they are probably working on something beyond our obvious understanding.

Unfortunately, there will always be some slackers, but I'm optimistic enough that they are in the minority.

Kris

I don't see it as a "who works harder" but it is so different, our roles that is. A doctor has a different responsibility and liability than a nurse. A nurse is more "physically" taxed than a doctor. But I think the overall responsibility of making a correct call, diagnosing properly, deciding when to call in a specialist etc. is of a different level of "work" than a nurses. Of course we must be responsible to call the doctor when needed, recheck a drug order if we feel it's not right, to withold a med if our nursing judgement calls for it. A nurses responsibility is over when her shift ends. The doctors is not, his is continuous. So, it's not that it's harder it is just different. Plus take into account the horrendous hours they put in while becoming doctors, then interns, then residents etc. Make sense?

My dh is an ER doc. He works 12-24 hour shifts~usually 5 days a week. I know that he works very hard!

I don't think that it is really fair to try to compare. Just like with nursing, there are lots of docs who work very hard and some that just show up for their paycheck.

Ditto. Apples and oranges here people.