I'm not the doctor!

I have heard many nurses that I work with that respond that way and it does not bother me because I agree with them. If I wanted to be a doctor I would have gone to medical school, but I wanted to have somewhat of a social/family life.

I don't think nurses are putting themselves down by responding in that manner, frankly I do not want to be on call or paged for tylenol at 0200. I rather come in take care of patients and go home.

If it's not something I'm 100% sure about I'll always refer back to the MD. They are the ones that write the orders, we are the ones that execute them (the orders, not the pt or doc!).

My standard reply when addressed as "doctor" is: "i'm not the doctor, i'm your nurse, i work for a living".

If every physician order was executed by the nurse without question, some nurse would have given 50mg of IV (that is, not PO) hydralazine to a hypertensive patient and likely killed them or stroked them out because the physician "thought it was 1:1." Or they might even have given 6mg adenoside to a symptomatically bradycardic patient, instead of 1mg atropine since the young doc must have mixed the two "a drugs" up. The MD mistakes we catch are huge, and great harm could result if it wasn't for the "second set of eyes" that are nurses.

Yes I do believe physicians and nurses should have ongoing professional and respectful conversation for the good of the patient. I also wish I got more credit for the knowledge that I have (although I do acknowledge the greater knowledge of physicians). However, I do not want the responsibility (and with it, accountability) of a physician. At least not as long as I'm being paid or respected as little as I am as a nurse.

I have heard many nurses that I work with that respond that way and it does not bother me because I agree with them. If I wanted to be a doctor I would have gone to medical school, but I wanted to have somewhat of a social/family life.

I don't think nurses are putting themselves down by responding in that manner, frankly I do not want to be on call or paged for tylenol at 0200. I rather come in take care of patients and go home.

Nurses have a huge amount of responsibility. Of course we have many reasons we didn't go to medical school, but less responsibility should not be on that list. Even if you think the physician is legally responsible, you have a moral and professional obligation to ensure that every action taken by the physician is in the patient's best interest as the patient's advocate. The "I don't want that much responsibility" response makes nurses look lazy and uneducated. We aren't.

If every physician order was executed by the nurse without question, some nurse would have given 50mg of IV (that is, not PO) hydralazine to a hypertensive patient and likely killed them or stroked them out because the physician "thought it was 1:1." Or they might even have given 6mg adenoside to a symptomatically bradycardic patient, instead of 1mg atropine since the young doc must have mixed the two "a drugs" up. The MD mistakes we catch are huge, and great harm could result if it wasn't for the "second set of eyes" that are nurses.

Yes I do believe physicians and nurses should have ongoing professional and respectful conversation for the good of the patient. I also wish I got more credit for the knowledge that I have (although I do acknowledge the greater knowledge of physicians). However, I do not want the responsibility (and with it, accountability) of a physician. At least not as long as I'm being paid or respected as little as I am as a nurse.

We will never get more respect as nurses if we perpetuate subservient attitudes. Just my humble opinion.

We will never get more respect as nurses if we perpetuate subservient attitudes. Just my humble opinion.

A subservient attitude is one thing. Acknowledging the reality of the enhanced training and knowledge of an individual is another thing. With great responsibility comes great accountability. In healthcare, that accountability translates into legal issues, which translates into malpractice insurance costs.

What I paid for malpractice insurance this year: $80

What Internal Medicine physicians in Long Island, NY paid for malpractice insurance this year: $37,877

https://www.excellusbcbs.com/wps/wcm/connect/b7cdbf66-dd6b-4fb0-9612-47112e93c9f7/Med+Malpractice+FS+2014-EX+FINAL.pdf?MOD=AJPERES&CACHEID=b7cdbf66-dd6b-4fb0-9612-47112e93c9f7

Theres nothing wrong with a nurse saying "im not the doctor"

The nursing tree is VERY different from the "medicine" tree.

One of the most prime examples is looking at "nursing diagnosis" vs medical diagnosis. Nothing against nursing, but a great deal of nursing diagnosis are EXTREMELY general and vague. ie "risk for infection" vs a medical diagnosis which generally can be extremely precise and complicated.

To become a nurse requires 2-4 years of undergrad college, while becoming a doctor youre talking years of med school and so forth.

Thats not to say anything bad about nurses, or praise doctors. Just theyre extremely different in every way.

Of course we have many reasons we didn't go to medical school, but less responsibility should not be on that list.

Spot on.

I've been accepted to nursing school in the fall and I'm going through a bit of a freaking out period, thinking about just how much responsibility nurses have.

Spot on.

I've been accepted to nursing school in the fall and I'm going through a bit of a freaking out period, thinking about just how much responsibility nurses have.

Right there with ya!

medicine and nursing are both challenging professions. But the amount of knowledge required to practice medicine is much much greater than to practice nursing. I am not saying nursing is easy, but too many nurses have the attitude that they could do everything the doc can. So 3 years of RN school equates to 4 years of med school and 3 years of residency? No, it does not. I worked as a nurse on many different units prior to becoming an np. even being an NP requires much more knowledge than a staff nurse. It is just ocmmon sense. I am sure there are very smart nurses out there and not so smart nps and mds, but overall, the doctor WILL know more. If you refute this you are just plain wrong and have not done both.