Is there some sort of Nurse/Med student rivalry?

[ThatPoshGirl]

I was curious about scrub nursing so I did some google searches and stumbled onto a med student forum like this one. The med students were railing against nurses and calling them things like "worthless b******"! What's the deal? It never occurred to me that med students would hate nurses or visa versa.

PS. Is anyone a scrub nurse?

[RNperdiem, RN]

Take that forum with a grain of salt. They like to vent too as well. I find the maturity level and conduct to be different on that forum. Doctors can drive us crazy sometimes; nurses can make docs crazy too.

I have very little contact with the med students at my job. I approach a doctor who can order what my patient needs; the student cannot help me there.

I suspect there is a hint of envy that we can work 3 days a week, have more time for life outside of work and still get well paid.

Med students are paying to be there long hours at the bottom of the medical hierarchy at the mercy of the residents and attendings who they will need good recommendations from to gain admission to a favored residency.

[TakeTwoAspirin, MSN, RN, APRN]

I think if you read a couple more posts on that board you will see that they pretty much look down on EVERYONE else, so I wouldn't let it worry you too much.

Once they get into the real world they will either get a better perspective, or have a very, very long and humbling career.

[husker_rn, RN]

While in nursing school I found that med students just don't know what we do or our educational background. Got to do a practicum where I went on house calls with an MD and 3 med students. Gentleman on mutiple pain meds, some immobility, chronic constipation, poor fluid intake. Med students came up with various conclusions; I kept quiet till asked than replied that each individual pain med was constipating in and of itself; added together was a big contributer. then pointed out his lack of movement, compounded by poor h2o intake. They looked at me like I was loony till the instructor told them " listen to her gentleman because she is exactly right ". they gave me much more respect after that. They just have no idea that many of our classes could rival theirs. Let a nurse save their butts sometime then see what they have to say.

[mcs1505]

My classmates and I have only been in clinicals a few weeks and have had some funny run-ins with the med students already.

First a classmate of mine overheard one med student tell another med student that they weren't sure about their patients electrolyte panel values because they didn't know what the normal values were. (She volunteered the information and they were grateful)

Second, a med student was drilling a pair of us about the specifics of the disease a patient in the next bed over had. He was kind of irritated that we had no idea what he was talking about. We just looked at each other and made a face...did he realize we'd been in school for exactly one month?

So you see both ends of the spectrum.

[jla623]

I had to quit going to that forum because it irritates me so much. I think a lot of that med student arrogance goes away after they are put in their place and experience the real world in clinicals. You don't usually see doctors running around starting 'I hate nurses' clubs like the ones on that forum.

And I also get the feeling that a lot of the people on there aren't really med students. I think they just like to argue and put down other people. If you are really in medical school, how on earth do you find the time to constantly debate every post made about nursing?

[NurseWannabe1129]

Well, I've worked with med students, residents, and MDs who respect nurses and the job we do. I've also worked with plenty who share the attitude that people who go to nursing school aren't smart enough to go to medical school. Even if one isn't smart enough or does not have the financial resources or the desire to attend medical school, a person deserves respect for doing their job conscientiously and well, be it a nurse, the unit secretary, or housekeeper. Otherwise, what value is there to all of us who fall in the lower 95% of human beings?

Just wanted to say I love your answer. A nurse should go onto that board disguised as a med student and share all the knowledge they have. Then, one day, just drop the bomb. "Yeah, actually, I'm a nurse." Once they realize what knowledge a nurse has without having the judgement of "only a nurse," maybe they will give themselves a slap in the face!