First a background on myself. 22 y/o M working as a Paramedic for a very busy ambulance service. I spend half of my day in the ER dropping pts of so I get a chance to interact with nursing staff very often.
I am finishing up a college degree now and have become interested in getting my BSN. I have had some wonderful experiences with nurses and they have taught me a lot.
HOWEVER . . .
I have encountered a few very concerning issues with some nurses that really irk me and force me to reconsider going in to nursing.
1. I have a friend in nursing school who says she is going to get her DNP and she will be, and I quote, "at the same level as an MD/DO" and "my patients will have to call me DR". Yeah it doesn't work this way. DNP training does not equal MD/DO. I respect the DNP position but this is ridiculous. If you want to be a DR goto medical school. There are a thousand different roles to fill in healthcare, and while the MD/DO may be the "top dog" per se, they certainly do not have the market cornered and need to show some more respect.
2. In the same vein, NPs need to come down off their hight horse. The ones I know walk and talk with a sense of entitlement. They speak as if they are truly on par with physicians. Look, you may be very good at what you do but you are not a doctor. You are a mid-level provider. And if you think I am bashing NPs, I am not. I usually see my NP for most of my visits. But for somethings, you need a doctor. Sorry to disappoint.
So I guess you could sum up my concerns by saying nurses have a role and are not doctors, so stop thinking you are. That being said, I have learned more from nurses than anyone else so I am eternally grateful. That is why I am considering it. I hope to get in and work in the ER. Maybe one day go on a pursue CRNA, we'll see.
Special Note: My concerns are not directed at those that do not fit the above criteria. For all of you true blue nurses who are proud to be a nurse and not a doctor, thank you for all you do. You are truly the ones that make the hospitals run and you certainly are amazing.
Can anyone address a few of these issues to put me at ease, lol.
See I'm confused. OP says she is a medic interested in getting her RN. Kool. Most of us are here either because we are nurses or have an interest in or plan to become a nurse.
Now ... what does a career plan to become a RN have to do with DNP's or FNP's?? What does one person's professional goals have to do with DNP's, FNP's, their attitudes whether good or bad, or in between and whether or not they are addressed as Doctors??
Granted I'm multitasking but did I miss something??
If either of these 2 views don't suit you, but you continue to have an interest in and desire to practice nursing based on your goals and realistic knowledge of the field -- GO FOR IT. We welcome you.
The nurse's role is critical and very important and nurses need to help further the reputation of their profession.
Further the reputation of our profession to whom? You have to have an RN and you have to have an MD or you don't have healthcare, at least not by any modern standard of say the last several hundred years. We are the profession of Mother Teresa, Florence Nightengale, and the one the American public has picked as the most honest and ethical. Who do we need to impress? Doctors?
Why? What do we derive from them that we need to impress them?
sunray12
637 Posts
See I'm confused. OP says she is a medic interested in getting her RN. Kool. Most of us are here either because we are nurses or have an interest in or plan to become a nurse.
Now ... what does a career plan to become a RN have to do with DNP's or FNP's?? What does one person's professional goals have to do with DNP's, FNP's, their attitudes whether good or bad, or in between and whether or not they are addressed as Doctors??
Granted I'm multitasking but did I miss something??