are doctors more valued then nurses?

Simply put, yes and no. The reason: hard work does not necessarily equal better pay. Digging ditches is hard work. Doctors have a LOT more schooling than nurses (2 year ADN vs their 7+years) which is much more intense, so they invest a lot more money to start off with and they have more responsibility and liability than nurses. They also have no choice but to take their work home with them. I for one am glad that I don't have to assess patients and write orders at any time during the day or night.

Are nurses underpaid? Definitely in places. But it's all relative. I thought 40K a year was a pretty good wage for someone right out of college. Travel or agency nurses can easily make 35$ an hour or more. My main beef is that experience is not rewarded much financially in nursing.

Are Dr's more valued than nurses?

Of course....They are GODS!

-Russell

Yes, it is a shame that experience is not more highly rewarded in nursing. Educational levels vary, also, and the compensation does not reflect the added expertise. In our area, the majority of nurses are BSN grads. Many go on for MSN degrees. You would think that a hospital would jump at the chance to reward education AND experience in a nurse who chooses to continue practicing at the bedside. It doesn't happen, though. Still, this isn't enough to make me stop practicing-I just diversify and specialize. That's how the docs earn their money. It can work for nurses, too.

NO.....docs are not more valued than nurses......and that is my personal humble professional opinion on this 9th day of September 2002! So there! :D :kiss

Doctors are more valued than nurses. Like Rusty stated, they are GODS in most people's eyes. Drs. charge for their services, nursing services are lumped together with the room charge. I know that if you are admitted to our hospital and the first visit your family practice doc makes to you in the hospital is over $200. You can only imagine what the specialists charage if that is what the family practice guys are charging. (I am not trying to knock family practice either). Think about if hospitals charged for each service or procedure the nurse provides. Each foley insertion, each IV stick, each dressing change. That is how a lot of the docs get the payments they do. They charge for each service provided. As long as nurses are looked at by administration, the public, and the doctors as handmaidens to the docs we will never be valued like the docs. Just my .02.

I don't believe that doctors are more valued... To be honest I have met more patients who say they think their nurse is "god" (not their exact word ofcourse)... Most feels its the nurse who takes the time to listen to them, and alot of times gets them the proper help they need... As far as money is concerned... I am still a student, but I don't feel that a Drs and Nurses pay should be anywhere close.. I do believe nurses do alot if not most of the work... But a Dr. has tons of responsibilities, as someone pointed out their education level is MUCH higher than nurses... If we get paid the same or close, why differentiate between the two..

Unfortunately I would have to agree. Based on our society doctors are on pedestals, like they can do no wrong nor kill their patients. It has been my experience the less you do the more you make. Yes, doctors work hard but it is their expertise and knowledge they get paid for. Nursing is a hard profession unfortunately nursing has a lot of issues to contend with.

Doctors are valued more simply because our society still has the notion they are GODS. I know both professions their is hard work involved. Even though nurses have so much power and has yet to use it effectively to make changes within our own ranks. If nurses all left the acute care facility who would take care of the patients? Enough said.

Yes, unfortunately doctors are more valued than nurses, in the public eye. I'm not saying docs don't deserve the respect they get, they do have more education and a lot of responsibility.....but nurses certainly carry their own load of responsibility!! I work in a non-teaching hospital, when a patient crashes at night, on a holiday, or on a weekend, who do you think is there? The surgeons I work with are TERRIFIC, but they're just not there 24 hours a day......not to mention the fact that SOMETIMES, believe it or not, an doc makes a mistake on med orders, etc......while they should be responsible for their error, it's ultimately the nurse (or pharmacy) who needs to catch the error, and God forbid they actually administer the med!! They'll catch a whole lot more flack, to say the least. This is only my opinion, but nurses don't the receive the respect or the pay that they deserve. I know I'm certainly not in this totally for the money......I honestly LOVE walking into work everyday......but a few extra dollars and a little more appreciation from administration certainly wouldn't hurt!! LOL

It depends on what you mean by "valued".

If you are talking about pay, Doctors have a much higher overhead. Their schooling alone costs $$$ then the costs of office personnel (including nurses). They are charged so much for malpractice these days that some are actually not doctoring any more.

Nurses don't have this overhead for school, and they are paid by those who do incur office costs.

If you are talking about valued for their skills, then I think that would be an individual assessment on the nurse. Starting pay for new grads is excellent considering their schooling. Some of the students I am in class with are just in awe they can make "that much money" right out of school. I think that those nurses who have gone on to more school and that get paid the same as "new grads" definetly have something to complain about though!

This is just observation, please don't slam me!

Doctors = mostly men

Nurses = mostly women

Has nothing to do with the value of the job; has to do with gender.

The questions "Are nurses underpaid?" and "Why do doctors make more than nurses?" are addressing different issues.

When anyone says that nurses are "underpaid," my response is always, "How do you know?" "Underpaid" is a market term, indicating that a nurse or nurses are being paid less than they were promised. (In other words, someone was promised $25 an hour, but is being paid $23 an hour. That's underpaid). But as I've pointed out before, there's no salary fairy up in the sky determining wages -- for nurses or anyone else. And when you include salary, benefits, working conditions and other intangibles, virtually every nurse reading this is being paid something different, and it's something you chose.

Many factors enter into that little dance that determines what you are paid: your educational level, certifications, background, experience and experiences, negotiating skill, and market savvy, among many other things.

Why are doctors paid more? The above factors enter in, but the primary one is that many physicians are self-employed, and have a better understanding of their value than nurses. (Those docs who are not self-employed benefit from those who are self-employed). Doctors are usually more assertive in standing up for what they want. They are usually better at communicating to the public that they feel that their skills are valued and needed. (Nurses continue -- on boards like this, and in more public forums -- to frequently disparage their skills and contributions to the health care industry).

Jim Huffman, RN

http://www.NetworkforNurses.com