HOW do nurses THINK?

Faith213 · Jun 12, 2010

I'm probably completely off on this but I'll try. I'm thinking that nurses focus on treating the results of the disease, whereas the doctor focuses on diagnosing/curing the disease? I'm curious to see the input of others.

That Guy, BSN, RN, EMT-B · Jun 13, 2010

Its a stupid coined phrase that they love to throw out there. Doctors and nurses think a lot alike. What is my problem and how do I fix it.

michigansapphire · Jun 13, 2010

I had a nursing instructor who liked to say "They talk a lot in nursing school about 'critical thinking' ... funny, that's what I just call 'thinking'."

CBsMommy · Jun 13, 2010

I think what they mean by that is the doctor's treat the disease and nurses treat the people with the disease. We, as nurses, have more contact with the patients than the doctors do. Therefore, we need to look out for S&S of disease progression, electrolyte imbalance, discomfort of the patient, mental status of the patient, amoung others. So, as nurses, we treat the whole patient and not just the disease. Hope this helps!

llg, PhD, RN · Jun 13, 2010

I agree with the above posts. Doctors focus on identifying the main disease and providing a direct cure or surgical fix for that disease. That's the focus on their education. While that is a good thing to do, it's not the only important thing. In fact, that "cure the disease" focus causes problems when the patient requires other types of care -- such as supporting the patient trying to make lifestyle changes to improve their health -- or learning to live with chronic problems -- or providing care for a person who is dying -- or simply providing minute by minute comfort and support to someone who needs it.

Physicians often struggle with the above things because their education and clinical training does not emphasize these things.

The above things are at the core of nursing. Nurses focus more on the patient's responses to health situations. We focus on the minute-by-minute monitoring of a patient's condition and the provision of ongoing comfort and support to help the patient cope effectively with whatever they are dealing with -- whether that be pain, immobility, nausea, social isolation, etc. We are always asking ourselves, "What can we do to help this person repond to this situation successfully? What can we do to help this person overcome this bad thing ... prevent future problems ... develop more healthy behaviors ... or cope with whatever they need to endure?"

Another aspect of "thinking like a nurse instead of like a physician" is that physicians decide on a course of medical action, write an order, and then walk away as they expect that order to be followed. They don't usually get deeply involved in the procedures and systems processes that are required to carry out that order. (Unless it is a medical procedure, such as surgery.) Nurses on the hand, implement things ... have to know how to get things done within the system ... maintain the supplies and equipment ... i.e. "work the system" to see to it that the patient actually gets the needed service, supplies, tests done, etc.

So, when a physician thinks, "This is what I want to have happen," a nurse will be thinking "How do I get that done given the resources at hand?" There is a big difference in the thinking there.

Oh well, that's a few thoughts off the top of my head. It will be interesting to see what other people add.