why should doctors be paid higher

ukstudent · Feb 17, 2007

A trash collector works harder than a biochemist. A biochemist gets paid more because less people have the education to be a biochemist. Doctors get paid more because there are less of them and they are more educated than nurses. 2-4 years compared to 8-10 years.

cnkis · Feb 24, 2007

Because they gave up their youth not to mention the wear and tear on their vasculature from stress... go to med school and you'll see why. What was that? You don't want to go to med school cuz it's too much work... too much time... a financial and emotional burden?.... That's why.

caroladybelle, BSN, RN · Feb 24, 2007

nurses work harder than the doctor but in my country they are not well paid d, do any body have a reason for that

You haven't seen US med students or MDs in residency obviously. They are seriously underpaid (less than nurses) for the amount of hours (80 plus per work, plus study) that they work.

CT Pixie, BSN, RN · Feb 24, 2007

I'll tell you what I tell my 15 yr old daughter...its all about EDUCATION! The more you have, the more you make!!

It normally IS the ones who work much harder (physically) that make the least amount of money.

Not to mention the fact that doctors are ultimately responsible for the patient. The nurses carry out what the doctors orders for the patient are..if that doctor is wrong in his diagnosis and/or treatment, the doctor is the one who's responsible if the patient gets worse or dies. Do YOU want that responsibility?

Tweety, BSN, RN · Feb 24, 2007

Not to mention the fact that doctors are ultimately responsible for the patient. The nurses carry out what the doctors orders for the patient are..if that doctor is wrong in his diagnosis and/or treatment, the doctor is the one who's responsible if the patient gets worse or dies. Do YOU want that responsibility?

Nurses do have that responsiblity. If we miss something on an assessment and the patient worsens the lawyers aren't going after the doctor.

Even if the MD misdiagnoses a patient, and we institute a treatment and it's proven we could have questioned the doctor, we're still responsible.

Being a nurse and holding people's lives in our hands is an awesome responsiblity. People live and die every day based on what we do.

Home Health Columnist / Guide · Feb 24, 2007

OP is from Nigeria....

Just as likely in that country as in US, doctors get credit for "saving lives" while the nurses are the ones doing majority of hands on care and alert doctors to patient changes requiring intervention to save that life.

Without that "alert".. known as timely NURSING assessment from RN's and LPN's, patient would die if remained at home when ill.

Tweety, BSN, RN · Feb 24, 2007

OP is from Nigeria....
Just as likely in that country as in US, doctors get credit for "saving lives" while the nurses are the ones doing majority of hands on care and alert doctors to patient changes requiring intervention to save that life.

True enough, but the person I quoted was in Connecticutt.

Back to the OP, here in the US some docs do work very hard long hours, having to be on call, woken up in the middle of the night. Sometimes it does seem like we nurses do work harder though. :)

Vagon · Feb 24, 2007

They have a higher education, went to school for -far- longer and are harder to find. I firmly believe doctors have earned their pay.

sandlewood_nurse · Feb 24, 2007

I have family and friends (they have all spent years specializing) who are doctors . My brother is trying to get into dental school and he will make much more than a hygenist but for the most part he's just looking in people's mouth after the job is done. But I see him sacrificing his personal life. He's spent the last three years studying 12-14 hours a day !! He's got a GPA of 4.1. I'm not bragging because I don't have that GPA and I never did loll !! I didn't want to make those sacrifices and I told my family from early on. Its true, they put in a lot of time and effort, and make sacrifices in their personal lives. I have seen it myself. Not everyone is willing to make those sacrifices and can do what they do.

They deserve the higher pay, but I do think that there needs to be more respect for nurses, and nurses should be paid more. I think doctors can still make a lot of money, and have the nurses be paid what they deserve. We are professionals as well, but many professionals make much more than us.

I don't think the question is why do doctors get paid more (thats quite obvious), I think the question should be, why do nurses not feel compensated for what they do. With increasing patient loads, and responsibility, and stress factors, nurses should get paid a lot more than they do. Another solution would be making for better working conditions (safe patient load, respect, educational oppertunities, good commadrie)

Thats just my little rant. Besides, I'm glad I'm in nursing and not in medicine, because I went into it to help people. I find a lot of doctors start seeing patients as dollars and thats no reason to be in the health field. Besides nurses who go on to do NP and masters can make more money. Nurse Anesth. can make over a hundred thousand dollars (maybe 200 000). I was discussing this with my nurse friend last night. We both agreed that we wouldn't want that responsibility. So with more education, there is more responsibility. Nurses are responsible for their part, thats our job, and doctors are responsible for their part, thats their job.

nuangel1, BSN, RN · Feb 24, 2007

Nurses do have that responsiblity. If we miss something on an assessment and the patient worsens the lawyers aren't going after the doctor.
Even if the MD misdiagnoses a patient, and we institute a treatment and it's proven we could have questioned the doctor, we're still responsible.
Being a nurse and holding people's lives in our hands is an awesome responsiblity. People live and die every day based on what we do.

well said tweety .:cheers: :yeahthat: :yelclap:

allnurses Guide · Feb 24, 2007

Doctors work hard too.

Our docs do clinic hours and then have ER call from Friday at 5:30 p.m. until Monday at 8 a.m. They sleep in a room at the back of the clinic, which is about 20 steps away from the ER door. They are available 24 hours a day while on-call.

I actually had a discussion about this with one doc last week - he was bemoaning the fact that we need more nurses and OB coverage here. He mentioned the nurses being on-call more. I said that his role and my role were different. I am an hourly employee of the hospital. He is not. He signed on to the job of doc and OB doc in particular and that means he has to be available 24/7. I do not.

I would not choose to be a doctor. The hours cut into family commitments. I've seen the negative effects on families of docs that I work with. I wouldn't marry a doc either.

Docs earn their money - especially due to higher educational commitment. Physical labor doesn't always mean you get paid more money. If that were true the folks who pick strawberries would get paid more than me. I lasted 1/2 day in the strawberry fields when I was in college. Those folks work hard.

steph