Are nurses and doctors equal?

Nurses General Nursing

Published

I feel like this question as been abused over time but I think in nursing school I was taught to respect my position and the importance of nursing care in patient's outcomes. Although I respect the doctor tremendously, should I consider myself an equal? Or a subordinate? I feel like it matters in terms of nurse to patient interaction. I do have patients who value my logic and thought processes but also who think I am the doctor's lackey. I think to be a nurse you have to have humility and for one's ego to be set aside because our decisions do require medical supervision. And I don't have problems being humble.

I still consider myself a new-ish nurse with a lot to learn about nursing. I consider myself competent with a commitment to learning. I am still working on confidence building.

Thoughts?

Specializes in Trauma, Teaching.
The doctor is "more equal" than the nurse? How does that work, exactly?

Orwell's 1984; at the end of the book, all pigs are equal but some are more equal than others

OOPS! my bad.... orwell's Animal Farm, not 1984!

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Specializes in OB-Gyn/Primary Care/Ambulatory Leadership.

Is that like "double plus good" or am I confusing it with a different dystopian novel?

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In the eyes of the patient, both of u are equal. He is more equal than you. you are a NURSE..helping the doctor. Learn how to help & assist him.

Help and assist the doctor? I don't think even the doctors I work with see it that way.

In fact, half the time I'm asking them to help me :)

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The source of conflict in doctor/nurse relations is in the areas that our duties overlap.

But at the end of the day, the doctor is the head of the health care team.

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Specializes in Critical Care.

Nurses and Doctors play different roles, and while the paradigm used to be that the everyone was subordinate to the Doctor we now know that this view leads to ineffective, poor quality, and potentially harmful care, despite that you will unfortunately find Nurses who still think in outdated ways.

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Specializes in Critical Care.
Bottom line, a doctor gives me orders and I must complete them as an obligation of my license. I can do no such thing with doctors.

We all hold important roles, but no, nurses are not equal with doctors in a professional sense.

If there's one thing a Board of Nursing will be concerned with when reviewing an event, it's when the nurse states that they were just following orders and that's their job, or anything to that effect. It's not the nurse's role to "complete orders" as a function of their license, it's a nurse's role to evaluate the appropriateness of MD orders and incorporate them into the overall plan of care for the patient as appropriate, and to clarify or adjust orders as necessary, and even to notify an MD that an order is not appropriate and won't be initiated when necessary.

The relationship between the MD and Nurse as part of a team caring for the patient is not hierarchical, it's two different roles that interact to provide care. It's like a framer and an electrician on a team that's building a house, neither is subordinate to another, but they must work together and each can raise concerns with how the other is doing their work to ensure a quality result.

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In the eyes of the patient, both of u are equal. He is more equal than you. you are a NURSE..helping the doctor. Learn how to help & assist him.

Aren't nurses considered the eyes and ears of the physician? Still pretty important. And, don't you mean learn how to help & assist him or her?

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Agreed. Just came out of working nights and everything I say tends to come out like mush so I don't get my concepts out the way I'd like. But I am trying to find a way to explain nursing role to people who aren't in health care when such discussions arise. Which I did now from people's responses which were very well put and thought out.

I don't think you can explain acute care hospital nursing to people who aren't in health care. TV and movies are ass backwards! The doctor is at the bedside drawing blood, giving IV meds, helping the patient sit up and get to a wheelchair, starting IVs, soothing their fevered brow, etc.

Most people don't understand the doctor may be in the hospital 30 minutes, see 4 patients in those 30 minutes, then go to their office. Most people don't understand the nurse who is there 24/7 sees and cares for the patient.

I am lucky if once a year I hear a non health care person, who has unfortunately been in a hospital for a few days, say...."you nurses are there all the time, you really "run the show".

I am sure police officers, district attorneys, defence attorneys, judges, etc., must find it hard to watch police and courtroom TV shows for the same reason.

My husband was in the military....never ever has any movie or TV show portrayed military activities and not made many egregious errors.

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Bottom line, a doctor gives me orders and I must complete them as an obligation of my license. I can do no such thing with doctors.

We all hold important roles, but no, nurses are not equal with doctors in a professional sense.

That's actually incorrect. Even if you are completing orders, if it is an unsafe order and a prudent nurse would know that it is unsafe, following through with the order would constitute negligence/malpractice.

There's always an exception to the rule ...but most nursing jobs do involve carrying out other people's orders. I don't find it offensive to be a little lower on the hierarchy than an MD. Very few people are at the top or the bottom of anything. Most of us fall somewhere in the middle.

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If there's one thing a Board of Nursing will be concerned with when reviewing an event, it's when the nurse states that they were just following orders and that's their job, or anything to that effect. It's not the nurse's role to "complete orders" as a function of their license, it's a nurse's role to evaluate the appropriateness of MD orders and incorporate them into the overall plan of care for the patient as appropriate, and to clarify or adjust orders as necessary, and even to notify an MD that an order is not appropriate and won't be initiated when necessary.

Insightful.

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There's always an exception to the rule ...but most nursing jobs do involve carrying out other people's orders. I don't find it offensive to be a little lower on the hierarchy than an MD. Very few people are at the top or the bottom of anything. Most of us fall somewhere in the middle.

True. Good food for thought...

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Specializes in hospice, LTC, public health, occupational health.
Orwell's 1984; at the end of the book, all pigs are equal but some are more equal than others

That's Animal Farm, actually.

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