I want to get a balanced view on an issue I've seen many times.
I'm a medical student who worked several years as a nursing assistant prior to medical school.
Throughout both experiences I've heard plenty of talk from physicians about NP's, much of which is negative. This is obviously preaching to the choir here; I'm sure this is no news to you guys.
I'm sure you are well aware that beliefs exist such as "NP's are practicing medicine" "NP's want to be doctors clinically, but they don't want the hours or to go through the years of training as a doctor" or "NP's are wanna-be-docs" and other sorts of stuff such as this.
There's also a persistant view among MD's that NP's think they are equal substitutes clinically speaking for an MD.
Along with this, there's a belief that NP's think they have equivalent medical knowledge of an MD.
Again, this is not news to you I'm sure. There's no population in healthcare more so than nurses which knows that arrogance, and downright jerks often times, that are in medicine.
Even though I'm a medical student, I know this very well, given my long time as a nursing assistant all throughout college and a couple years afterwards.
Believe me, I know the crap you guys have to deal with since I've seen it for years (and have taken some of it myself too).
The reason I'm posting here is because I'm a strong believer that whenever a viewpoint/opinion is expressed, one should strive to get the opposite viewpoint/opinion in order to have as well balanced view of the issue.
It's only after doing this that one can make up his/her mind to come to a good conclusion on any issue.
So with that, I'd like to get your views on everything I've outlined to get some balance to the views I've been hearing from MD's.
Please feel free to comment on this issues. I want to get as much feedback as possible. It's nice to get a balanced view instead of hearing 1 side all day long.
Do you (as an NP) think you are an full, equal clincal substitute for a physician (in a given area)? What I mean by specific area is as follows, do you think an Adult NP is an full, equal clinical substitute for an internal medicine doc; a Pediatric NP for a pediatrician; Psych NP for a psychiatrist; Neonatal NP for a neonatalogist, etc...?
Thanks guys. I really appreciate it.
Don't let docs get you down. Believe it or not, there are some of us out there who know how tough nursing is and appreciate how extraordinarily valuable nurses are.
