getting sick of it.

Nurses Men

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Well since I became a nurse a couple months ago I have been asked at least 5000 times "Why didn't you want to become a doctor?" its just irritating. I have two small kids and by the time I would be out of school they would be in their late teens thats why... anyway

another question is is there a bridge program from nurse to paramedic? I used to be a EMT-I but let my license expire like four years ago. Do I just have to take the class over or what?

don't get mad. Tell them that nursing is where all the hot chicks are. You get to spend 12 hours a day with beautiful women instead of 12 + hours with a bunch of balding old men who tout there super size ego and their handicap on the course. hmmmm who's the smarter one now....I think you are:lol2: :rotfl:

alex1

Now why didn't i think of that!

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Specializes in Rodeo Nursing (Neuro).

One potentially annoying thing I've been guilty of more than once is encouraging our better aides to consider nursing school. That could probably be interpretted as suggesting being an aide is not a worthy goal in itself. Of course that isn't how I mean it. So far, I think they've understood that I'm saying anyone with the skills to be a really could aide is capable of becoming a really good nurse and making a lot more money. But I do know a couple who are content to spend their careers as aides, and I respect that.

Maybe others are applying a similar logic to medicine--if you have the skills to be a good nurse, you surely are capable of learning to be a doctor, and docs do make more money--in some cases a lot more money.

One of the things that has surprised me as a nurse is that the "medical model" vs. "nursing model" doesn't seem nearly as clear cut as I was taught in school, at least among the residents I usually work with. It's true, I've paged a neurosurgeon with a BP of 140/90 and been told that 140 is ok, and the diastolic is cardiology's problem--but he was kidding. Generally, our docs seem fairly holistic, and even spend some time holding patients' hands.

Then, too, the first time I had to hang a nitro drip, I was painfully aware of how we nurses have our areas of comfort. Our venticulostomy drains and art lines use the same transponders, but one's a piece of cake and the other remains a mystery.

I don't think comments about going on to medical school are generally intended to belittle nursing, so I don't take them that way. Certainly, I wouldn't think badly of any young nurse with ambitions beyond bedside nursing. A lot of lay people may not realize that there are ways for nurses to advance their careers other than switching to medicine.

That said, I usually tell people I'm too old for med school, so my plan is to marry a doctor and enjoy all the perks without the responsibility. That usually shuts them right up.

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YES, there are bridge programs from RN to EMT-P. Not sure about in your location, but here in OH you can bridge in about 2 quarters. This is pretty good, since the normal EMT-P program is 5 quarters long (it was "only" 4 quarters long when I did it in 1990-1991).

Dudes! What state are you in? Here in California nurses train paramedics, and in terms of heirarchy it goes EMT1,EMT-P, RN, MD. And LVN and NA's are thrown into the mix somewhere.

Nursing education takes at least 2 years, plus prereqs. By qualifications it is more extensive than paramedic work. But I see your point. People are more impressed by my cheesy EMT cert. than the fact that I'm a senior nursing student. I did my EMT training in my sleep, nursing school has been the most challenging experience of my life.

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Dudes! What state are you in? Here in California nurses train paramedics, and in terms of heirarchy it goes EMT1,EMT-P, RN, MD. And LVN and NA's are thrown into the mix somewhere.

Nursing education takes at least 2 years, plus prereqs. By qualifications it is more extensive than paramedic work. But I see your point. People are more impressed by my cheesy EMT cert. than the fact that I'm a senior nursing student. I did my EMT training in my sleep, nursing school has been the most challenging experience of my life.

That hierarchy might say something about the level of authority, but the education and scope of practice are not truly linear.

Just as nurses are not junior doctors, paramedics are not junior nurses. Paramedics and nurses might have considerable overlap in their training, but there are many things in each discipline that the other would not be taught.

The paramedic course might be shortened for RNs--no need to relearn A&P or med actions--but there are many aspects of working in the field that simply aren't covered in RN education. Paramedic training includes not only the medical dimension, but rescue, extrication, packaging, and many other elements that need to be learned regardless of a student's previous area and level of study.

It's important to give each discipline proper respect.

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When someone asks me why I am not a doctor, or calls me doctor, which pretty much occurs every shift, I take it as a compliment. Really, aren't there bigger fish to fry in this world...:banghead:

Mark

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~Drives up to Starbucks in a Ferrari (or whatever).

Bystander: "Wow, what a great car. What do you do for a living?"

MaleNurse: "I'm a nurse."

Bystander(confused): "Wha?? Stop pulling my chain! Haha! You're a doctor... aren't you!?"

MaleNurse: "Actually, no, I'm an RN. The doctor is still trying to figure out why Mrs. X has diarrhea. I had the liberty to start a business with all the free time I had."

---I wish that one day, one of us can say something like that.---

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I was in training taught by a nurse educator once and one of the students said "I was going to go to medical school but I settled on being just a nurse". The nurse educator stayed so professional and composed when she explained that heathcare does not have a hierarchy system and each role is just as important as the other in patient care. It was great.

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Specializes in Emergency.

Have youse guys seen this one?

"The Ranks of a Hospital" I posted this on the bulletin board at my school back in February. At the end of the semester, it was the only thing left on the board...

https://allnurses.com/forums/f58/ranks-hospital-202166.html

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Specializes in Accepted...Master's Entry Program, 2008!.
~Drives up to Starbucks in a Ferrari (or whatever).

Bystander: "Wow, what a great car. What do you do for a living?"

MaleNurse: "I'm a nurse."

Bystander(confused): "Wha?? Stop pulling my chain! Haha! You're a doctor... aren't you!?"

MaleNurse: "Actually, no, I'm an RN. The doctor is still trying to figure out why Mrs. X has diarrhea. I had the liberty to start a business with all the free time I had."

---I wish that one day, one of us can say something like that.---

Depends on your drive and resourcefulness. I know one of these already.

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Specializes in Med surg, cardiac, case management.

:idea: Do you think television contributes to this perception?

When I watch shows like "House" I notice that the doctors do everything, from starting an IV to performing an MRI. Nurses, CNAs, and allied health people are almost never shown. Do you think this gives the public the impression that doctors do most of the work?

One thing I noticed: An MD I know said he considers "House" to be quite accurate. A retired RN I know says it's anything but. :confused:

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:idea: Do you think television contributes to this perception?

When I watch shows like "House" I notice that the doctors do everything, from starting an IV to performing an MRI. Nurses, CNAs, and allied health people are almost never shown. Do you think this gives the public the impression that doctors do most of the work?

One thing I noticed: An MD I know said he considers "House" to be quite accurate. A retired RN I know says it's anything but. :confused:

TV is TV. Very few professions get accurate treatment, in part, because most jobs have hours of humdrum existence, punctuated by a few minutes of excitement. Television writers and producers cherry-pick the high times and invent the rest.

None of the docs I know think House is accurate, except for the medical knowledge. They're kind of in awe over somebody making the scientific aspect of medicine look so cool. Oh, and the attending's contempt for the underlings--that they've seen plenty of. But, no, they don't feel it's representative of how hospitals really function.

Watch a show because you like it (House is one of my favorites), or don't watch it because you don't like it. I wouldn't lose much sleep over true-to-life portrayals because, a) there just aren't that many (if any!) out there, and b) the makers of TV shows aren't worried about such criticism if the show is doing well, and care even less if it isn't.

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Specializes in Peds ER.
:idea: Do you think television contributes to this perception?

When I watch shows like "House" I notice that the doctors do everything, from starting an IV to performing an MRI. Nurses, CNAs, and allied health people are almost never shown. Do you think this gives the public the impression that doctors do most of the work?

One thing I noticed: An MD I know said he considers "House" to be quite accurate. A retired RN I know says it's anything but. :confused:

TV is TV. I'm watching a show about this guy in New York who hangs out with this girl who he used to date but now they're best friends, along with his other male and some really weird guy across the hall...

Some people forget it's TV tho, and we end up with people thinking that's how nurses work, or that's how easy it is to ID a criminal from a fingerprint smudge... I love the crime labs on CSI... I'm sure they really look like that.

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