Are You Gonna Go ALL The Way?

z's playa · Jan 19, 2005

hey! i'm a future nurse, now senior in highschool. and when i tell people i'm going into nursing some say "wow, you'll be great and we need nurses!" others say, why not go "all the way" and be a doctor. i want to be like, are you saying nursing is not as important as doctoring? or that i should abandon my dreams and achieve the ones you want for me? how do i respond to this statement, i don't want to hurt their feelings. & how do you feel about this comment? thanks so much!
we dare to care
we dare to cry
we dare to be
a part of life!
go nurses!!!!!!

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i'm am first year nursing student and when somebody comments about my being smart and i should be a doctor..i ask them would they want a dumb nurse in charge of their meds and their life while in the hospital? that shuts them up.

Antikigirl, ASN, RN · Jan 19, 2005

"Doctors go to school to treat disease/conditions, Nurses go to school to treat PEOPLE!"

I used this line almost daily! And I would also ask of some what their experiences with docs are...especially those that have ever spent over 40 minutes waiting in an exam room for the doc and get all of 2 minutes with them! LOL, that usually got people thinking! LOL! Or the fact you don't see too many docs running their fannies off like you do nurses..why? Because we treat all their patients!

I am my MD's eyes, ears, sometimes nose too..LOL, I am their legs, I am their arms..I am their everything and they can't do much without me! Ever seen an MD give an IM injection or put in a cath? I will tell you it can be quite hillarious!!!!!!!

Nope...they are trained, and well trained in fighting disease/conditions...we not only have to know much of that aspect, but the human factor which is HUGE!

"All the way...that IS NURSING!!!!!!"

llg, PhD, RN · Jan 19, 2005

I got that alot -- particularly so because my father was a physician. I used to tell people that I knew all about the life of a physician -- and I didn't want that life. I wanted the increased flexibility that nursing offered. I also told them that my father strongly approved of my choice because he valued his nursing colleagues so much. He also always advised me to get an advaned degree in nursing so that I would have the maximum number of career options.

I took his advice and went "all the way" in nursing. I got my BSN at the age of 22, my Master's Degree at the age of 26, and my PhD in nursing at the age of 41. So ... I am actually a "doctor-nurse" and have been quite happy with my career.

Good luck,

ddd

Marie_LPN, RN, LPN, RN · Jan 19, 2005

Tell people it isn't their life to live.

SmilingBluEyes · Jan 19, 2005

I tell people nurses do at the hospital or in home health care---- what you always thought DOCTORS DID..and then describe a bit of what we do. that usually gives em a clue that we do more than push pills and clean up poop.....

snowfreeze, BSN, RN · Jan 19, 2005

Doctors and nurses both care for patients, nurses do it close to the patient, doctors do it on nurses recomendation. A little less pay and you have days off you don't get called for stuff. When you are home, the hospital and nursing home doesn't call you because so and so is sneezing or seizing or peeing or not peeing etc. You give the care the patients need in your domain and time frame.

BETSRN · Jan 20, 2005

hey! i'm a future nurse, now senior in highschool. and when i tell people i'm going into nursing some say "wow, you'll be great and we need nurses!" others say, why not go "all the way" and be a doctor. i want to be like, are you saying nursing is not as important as doctoring? or that i should abandon my dreams and achieve the ones you want for me? how do i respond to this statement, i don't want to hurt their feelings. & how do you feel about this comment? thanks so much!
we dare to care
we dare to cry
we dare to be
a part of life!
go nurses!!!!!!

medicine and nursing are two completely different fields. people often think that we become nurses because we couldn't make it in medical school. nothing could be farther from the truth. that kind of a comment just shows yuo the public's general ignorance. good luck with your career.

kidluvinRN · Jan 20, 2005

You go! You'll be a great nurse someday. I always heard "don't be a nurse be a doctor" when I was growing up. I knew I didn't want to be a doctor!! So I just gave up the whole thing, or let it go for awhile. . .until I had kids and encounters with nurses who inspired me! It is ashame that our society values caring and caregiving so little that this attitude continues.

NurseFirst · Jan 20, 2005

response #1:

"have you seen what doctors pay in malpractice these days?!?" :chuckle ...

(in a whisper: "nurses pay a fraction of that..." )

response #2:

true story:

i read a book recently talking about the "ails" of medicine--you know, all that psycho-social stuff they should get, and never will. why? hey, some med schools are cutting down on gross anatomy (the epitome of medical school 1st two years of basic sciences) because they have too much other science to learn! and guess what? nursing has within its scope of practice those psychosocial concerns that everyone wishes that physicians have. at the end of the book there was something about two different physicians, one going off to say they have to put in a catheter, the other to do a bowel disimpaction. i'm going...like what??? i learned to do those (and did some of the latter in clinical) in my first quarter....

3rd response:

there was an episode of er, where abby, the nurse and former medical student (i guess she's completed her med ed now, though) was saying why she was happy to be a nurse...she told the docs how many pts she sees in a day...and it was a lot fewer, and she got to spend a lot more time with them, than did the docs. (the docs were all dropping their jaws.) great episode.

nurswefirst

hey! i'm a future nurse, now senior in highschool. and when i tell people i'm going into nursing some say "wow, you'll be great and we need nurses!" others say, why not go "all the way" and be a doctor. i want to be like, are you saying nursing is not as important as doctoring? or that i should abandon my dreams and achieve the ones you want for me? how do i respond to this statement, i don't want to hurt their feelings. & how do you feel about this comment? thanks so much!
we dare to care
we dare to cry
we dare to be
a part of life!
go nurses!!!!!!

rn/writer, RN · Jan 20, 2005

Wouldn't it be interesting to do a brain scan (to insure honest results) to find out how many docs--male or female--would really rather be nurses.

I'm sure there would be those who would say they wouldn't want the grunt work and some of the other negatives of nursing. But I don't think much of getting calls in the wee hours, coughing up exorbitant malpractice premiums, and paying the high overhead costs involved in running a private practice.

With managed care, docs don't automatically make big bucks anymore and those who do usually have whopping expenses taking a big bite of the profits. If it weren't for a perceived loss of prestige, some of them, especially the ones who really have a heart for their patients, might be glad to lighten that part of the load in exchange for the connection that nurses get to have with patients and families. Granted, that's not always a joyous experience but that's one of the parts I'd be envying had I gone to medical school instead of becoming a nurse.

This has got me really intrigued :idea: . I'm going to do a web search to see if I can find at least one example of an MD who became a nurse. :eek:

Miranda F. Happy to be a :nurse:

z's playa · Jan 20, 2005

Wouldn't it be interesting to do a brain scan (to insure honest results) to find out how many docs--male or female--would really rather be nurses.
I'm sure there would be those who would say they wouldn't want the grunt work and some of the other negatives of nursing. But I don't think much of getting calls in the wee hours, coughing up exorbitant malpractice premiums, and paying the high overhead costs involved in running a private practice.
With managed care, docs don't automatically make big bucks anymore and those who do usually have whopping expenses taking a big bite of the profits. If it weren't for a perceived loss of prestige, some of them, especially the ones who really have a heart for their patients, might be glad to lighten that part of the load in exchange for the connection that nurses get to have with patients and families. Granted, that's not always a joyous experience but that's one of the parts I'd be envying had I gone to medical school instead of becoming a nurse.
This has got me really intrigued . I'm going to do a web search to see if I can find at least one example of an MD who became a nurse.
Miranda F. Happy to be a

There is one right here in our forum but I forgot his name. If I run across it I'll let you know.

Ran across it...name of thread is MD going into BSN.

rn/writer, RN · Jan 20, 2005

There is one right here in our forum but I forgot his name. If I run across it I'll let you know.
Ran across it...name of thread is MD going into BSN.

Thanks. Now, I wonder what courses would be required to bridge from MD to RN. The technical knowledge (A&P, Chem, pathophys., etc.) is already in the pot but it seems like MD-to-RN-bridgers would have to take clinicals for retraining their focus and functioning with a nurse's perspective. Not to mention, learning how to put hospital corners on those beds. :chuckle

Miranda F.