From nurse to a doctor

calivianya, BSN, RN · Jun 22, 2014

If you want to be a physician, I think you should just go ahead and go to medical school. Being a nurse and being a physician are two totally different things. All you are going to do is accumulate your nursing school debt and your medical school debt, instead of just your medical school debt. Nursing school doesn't let you skip any classes in medical school - you'd still have to start from the bottom just like everyone else. It also takes a lot of years to go through medical school/residency/etc. Once you start working as a nurse, you do risk being burned out on schooling and not wanting to go back to school for such a long time and for such a huge amount of money when you already have a job. You are free to follow your dream now, so I'd recommend doing it before you feel locked into a career you don't even want.

Wutermelon · Jun 22, 2014

True but to add to my topic what are the pros and cons of being a doctor vs being a nurse? I shouldve asked that instead haha.

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Jun 22, 2014

Pros of being a physician = greater income potential, greater occupational prestige, more recognition on the healthcare team, more shot-calling, more respect from patients and families, chance to become wealthy depending on one's specialty, name recognition in smaller communities, tends to receive credit for optimal patient outcomes, materially comfortable lifestyles complete with frequent international travel and real estate holdings (you seldom see a doctor driving a beat-up car)

Cons of being a physician = more liability due to shot-calling, unattractive work hours, receives calls that interrupt one's sleep, 24-hour liability for all your patients around the clock, expensive malpractice insurance premiums, anywhere from 11 to 15 years spent in school (baccalaureate degree + medical school + residency + fellowship), staggering student loan debt, suicide rates higher than average, divorce rates higher than average, chance of contracting communicable diseases, litigation is a very real possibility, insurance companies

Pros of being a nurse = flexible work hours, decent five-figure income (low six-fugures in some locations), less time spent in school, liability ends once your shift ends, cheap malpractice insurance due to minimal liability, possibility of graduating from nursing school debt-free, less professional distance from the patient, sense of validation (for those nurses who want to feel "needed" by patients), career mobility (changing specialties is possible, graduate/doctoral education is possible, promotions to management are possible)

Cons of being a nurse = income potential flattens after about ten years, less occupational prestige, less respect from patients and families, no chance of becoming wealthy unless you become a nurse entrepreneur, less recognition in the healthcare food chain, chance of contracting disease, chance of suffering from debilitating musculoskeletal injury, potential of amassing staggering student loan debt if you attend the wrong school, suicide rates higher than average, divorce rates higher than average

Wutermelon · Jun 22, 2014

Wow divorce rates and suicide rates are higher than average? Out of all of the cons that one shocked me. I mean this is off topic but what is this caused by? Besides having to see people pass away?

binzy · Jun 22, 2014

My lab teacher went from lpn to pediatrician.. I dont see a problem. You can do this.

TU RN, DNP, CRNA · Jun 22, 2014

I tried taking one class towards medical school while working full time night shift as a nurse and it wasn't easy. I was exhausted all the time. A few times I had no choice but to go to a 8am class immediately after working 12 hours. It's not easy at all. My advice is you have to seriously consider which of these two careers you want to truly pursue and devote all of your energies there. Doing both is possible but highly illogical and impractical.

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Jun 22, 2014

Wow divorce rates and suicide rates are higher than average? Out of all of the cons that one shocked me. I mean this is off topic but what is this caused by? Besides having to see people pass away?

The links below can explain the phenomenon better than I can at the moment.

How Being a Doctor Became the Most Miserable Profession - The Daily Beast#

Nurses at risk | Nursing Today. Nursing Journals : American Society of Registered Nurses

The 19 Jobs Where You're Most Likely To Kill Yourself - Business Insider

calivianya, BSN, RN · Jun 22, 2014

Wow divorce rates and suicide rates are higher than average? Out of all of the cons that one shocked me. I mean this is off topic but what is this caused by? Besides having to see people pass away?

Honestly, having patients die is probably the least stressful part of the job (at least for me). It's the rest of it. People treating the hospital like the Ritz-Carlton and expecting you to get them their next juice/blanket while somebody else is actively dying and they don't care because their cold feet are more important than someone else's life, getting yelled at by patients/families, getting treated like crap by management, having new rules and things to do all the time thrown at you while you're getting less and less help, etc. All of this ends up being your responsibility as the nurse, and more besides. And of course anyone who doesn't work in healthcare doesn't understand, so after an awful day you come home and listen to friends/family complaining about how you only work three days a week (if you work 12s), why are you so tired, you've got it made with your hours, your life must be so easy...

Then, if you are like me and work a lot of overtime and work night shift to boot, you find you don't have time for other people and your social circle gradually slips away from you until you wake up one day and realize that you don't have anyone you can rely on anymore. If you have to move to somewhere that you don't know anyone to get your first job, like I did, the problem's even worse. At that point, you don't know anyone anyway, so you might as well work 60, 72 hours a week or more and run yourself even more ragged. What's the point of being home and watching Netflix alone at 4 in the morning because you can't sleep because you're lonely and upset when you could be working and making money (and interacting with other people to boot)? Nursing in general isn't an 8-5 where you just push papers all day and then go home at times when other people are also off work and you can socialize. It is possible to get some jobs in nursing like that, such as case management or in a doctor's office, both of which will likely want you to have acute care experience first. The personal costs of working a 24/7 job like being a nurse or a physician end up being pretty dang high. You think you can live just fine without other people until you do it for a while... it eventually wears you down. I can totally understand why divorce rates and suicide rates are higher in healthcare. You spend so much time running yourself down at work taking care of other people that when you get off, there's nothing of you left.

blondy2061h, MSN, RN · Jun 22, 2014

Here's an interesting article about suicide in physicians:

How many doctors contemplate suicide?

I don't think suicide rates are as high in nurses, because we're less likely to feel trapped by debt, we have more options to moving to other area if we're unhappy, unlike physicians who may be running their own practice, or need to do a whole fellowship to specialize.

Nurses only have to work 36 hours per week most places. That leaves plenty of time for hobbies and friends. I have friends that are nurses too, so our goofy schedules work together.

One me thing I do find frustrating in the constant demand to do more with less and do it just as well if not better than before, damnit.

Anther thing that is probably more unit specific with me is futile care. We're constantly keeping people alive that are obviously dying. It's a lot of work and you feel guilt about being sick of it. And it's depressing watching these people die all of the time and watching their family members want everything done. And you feel like the family members aren't getting the full scoop from the physicians because you see a rapidly declining patient in multi system organ failure and they're saying the doctor told them that he might go home next week. Then the families scream at you, because why aren't they getting better? Why are they so out of it? Obviously you drugged them too much! You're sad that they're dying but exhausted of dealing with it and feel guilty that you can't summon up more compassion.

HelloWish, ADN, BSN · Jun 22, 2014

Did you ever consider becoming a nurse practitioner? That is my end goal.

Wutermelon · Jun 22, 2014

Calivianya damn thats depressing but can i ask why you chose or what are the pros of nursing in your opinion?