I'm not sure of this career would be nursing or not?

[dove56]

For the longest time I've wanted to be a nurse. It just seems to me that nurses do more than doctors, and they have exciting work. However, I love watching House and I really like what they do. I know that there are no real "diagnosticians", but I just love it! I like how they solve puzzles, and they do all of these diagnostic tests, and emergency stuff like trachs, crash carts, and they also do surgery (probably not realistic). They also seem to know everything; I've never met any doctor like that. I don't want to be a doctor because I find it kind of boring; you don't really interact with patients as much as nurses do. Oh, and I want to be a nurse at a hospital, not an office or clinic, because I personally think that would be boring. So, my question is, are there any jobs similar to nursing that do all or most of the stuff House's team does? I'm looking for more of the excitement factor, like what they do. Also, do nurses do LPs and thoracentesis? Or biopsies? If not, who does? Also, if someone in the the hospital is having a seizure, or heart attack, do the nurses administer the medication or does a doctor have to determine the dose and do it (crash cart)? I want to go into nursing and I'm really curious. I know House is a show and that not everything on it is real. Thanks in advance :)

[loriangel14, RN]

Like you said, House is a TV show and it's not real.No nursing job is like TV portrays it. It's not glamor and excitement and saving multiple lives each shift. Even nurses in the ER deal with routine dull stuff.Plus the characters on House are doctors.Nurses don't do surgery, LPs or thoracentesis.You do assessments, provide personal care, educate, communicate with other members of the health care team, monitor your patient's condition,do admissions and discharges,do treatments and administer medications, perform skills such as putting in catheters.... and of course chart everything you have done.The list is endless and will be different depending on what kind of floor you work on.

[dove56]

Thanks :) that really helped! I was really confused on the functions of doctors vs nurses since the show kind of blurs it. You were helpful!

[loriangel14, RN]

Plus they don't spend hours at the patient's bedside with a nurse never in sight.I crack up when they show doctors in the lab doing their own testing.Oh and everyone is sleeping with each other.lol

[dove56]

Haha that's so true!

[HouTx, BSN, MSN, EdD]

There's a great metaphor for health care in the US.... think about a large passenger plane.

The pilot & copilot are the physicians - locked away in their secure little cabin while the flight attendants (nurses) take care of the passengers. Periodically, the pilot may make a pronouncement on the PA or (on longer flights) may take a walk through the cabin. But most of the time, it's all up to the flight attendants, who must see to the needs of the the pilots as well as the passengers. If an emergency arises, the flight attendants prepare the passengers and are right alongside them during the event.

A typical hospitalized patient may see their physician 20 minutes in a 24 hour period - if she makes rounds twice. But the rest of the time, all the care is delivered or coordinated by nurses. See the similarities?