MD's vs Advance Practice Nurses

[Salus]

As I always seem to state I am considering entering this field, I am curious as to what is the difference between an MD and APN. I know the MD has gone to med school but additional skills or abilities do they have?

Thank you.

[suzanne4, RN]

It actually comes down to the individual practitioner...................I have known NPs that were much smarter than some doctors that I have worked with and the other way around. Basically in nursing you have the one specialty that you practice in where the physician had to complete full medical school. If you think of typical programs, the physician has 8 years and the NP has 6 years. For many things and for certain conditions I would much rather have a NP taking care of the patient than an MD. They usually are better at explaining things, etc.................

At this point I am not sure if I agree with the accelerated program of any degree into a MSN where they weren't practicing as a full-time nurse in that area for a few years first..................I would feel very uncomfortable hiring one because no matter what, and no matter how or where they were trained, they are going to be lacking in experience....................you can't learn that in a school....................where do we learn most of our patient care and what to do and what not do, at the bedside, not in a classroom..................

I hope that I haven't offended anyone, but have been doing this for too long and have seen the differences between the way students have been prepared.

:balloons: