Not giving in my petition for nursing school

RN92 · Aug 9, 2004

the idea that doctors treat only the disease and are unholistic and that nurses are holistic and treat the response to the disease.

ive been a nurse for 13yrs - this is exactly how it works. sure, there are always exceptions to the rule - but for the most part.....

if you're looking for answers here, you're not going to find any. we can give you all the advice in the world,but you're the only one that knows the right answer. good luck.

angel337, MSN, RN · Aug 9, 2004

if being a doctor is what you aim to be susanna, then go for it but i have to agree with erslave that when you are a nurse your practice revolves around holistic healing. nurses spend the most time with the patient so naturally they see the patient through every healing or dying process. there is a web site called studentdoctor.net that supports to be/wanna be MD's and present MD residents. i think allnurses is very supportive, but i don't know what kind of advice you will receive here about being a doctor since we are all nurses or want to be nurses. good luck with whatever decision you make :)

Dixielee, BSN, RN · Aug 9, 2004

I am fairly new to this forum and I don't know you or your history. You also don't mention how old you are. I think that may be something to consider as well. If you have not ever worked in the medical field and only know of it from TV, movies, novels or whatever, you may want to get some hands on experience to help you sort things out. You could even do some volunteer work in an ER to see what different types of things medical personel are responsible for and how they are treated. In an ER you are likely to come in contact with Physicians, Residents, RN's, LPN's, Techs, EMT's, Paramedics, X-ray, Respiratory, Social Workers and lab personel. I think a lot of people assume that nurses are just folks who could not make it into medical school and "settled" for nursing. I think most of us could have done anything we wanted to and chose nursing. I think if you want to care for people and make a difference in individual lives, then nursing is the way to go. With health care as it is in the US today, there is far too much BS the physicians have to deal with. Not only do they have to go to undergraduate school and do well, then 4 years of med school, an intern year and several years as a resident and many more depending on your speciality. Then you have many thousands of dollars of debt if you are typical. Once you are ready to set out your shingle, you have to consider malpractice insurance, the overhead of opening a practice or at best getting into partnership. Then you have to pay personel, not just your medical staff but receptionist, insurance specialists etc. You still have to maintain medical records, as well as the usual office stuff. Then if one of your patients is in the hospital, you have to make rounds, unless you are on staff where they have hospitalists (or you may want to be a hospitalist to avoid the hassle of an office). You may have time to spend 15 minutes with each patient as you send them off to get lab, x-rays, EKG's and such. Gone are the days of Marcus Welby and the family doctor. We are headed toward even more governmental intervention into healthcare and I believe most doctors will be salaried employees of the government. Nope, for me, I will be a nurse.

sonessrna · Aug 9, 2004

I am fairly new to this forum and I don't know you or your history. You also don't mention how old you are. I think that may be something to consider as well. If you have not ever worked in the medical field and only know of it from TV, movies, novels or whatever, you may want to get some hands on experience to help you sort things out. You could even do some volunteer work in an ER to see what different types of things medical personel are responsible for and how they are treated. In an ER you are likely to come in contact with Physicians, Residents, RN's, LPN's, Techs, EMT's, Paramedics, X-ray, Respiratory, Social Workers and lab personel. I think a lot of people assume that nurses are just folks who could not make it into medical school and "settled" for nursing. I think most of us could have done anything we wanted to and chose nursing. I think if you want to care for people and make a difference in individual lives, then nursing is the way to go. With health care as it is in the US today, there is far too much BS the physicians have to deal with. Not only do they have to go to undergraduate school and do well, then 4 years of med school, an intern year and several years as a resident and many more depending on your speciality. Then you have many thousands of dollars of debt if you are typical. Once you are ready to set out your shingle, you have to consider malpractice insurance, the overhead of opening a practice or at best getting into partnership. Then you have to pay personel, not just your medical staff but receptionist, insurance specialists etc. You still have to maintain medical records, as well as the usual office stuff. Then if one of your patients is in the hospital, you have to make rounds, unless you are on staff where they have hospitalists (or you may want to be a hospitalist to avoid the hassle of an office). You may have time to spend 15 minutes with each patient as you send them off to get lab, x-rays, EKG's and such. Gone are the days of Marcus Welby and the family doctor. We are headed toward even more governmental intervention into healthcare and I believe most doctors will be salaried employees of the government. Nope, for me, I will be a nurse.

Dixielee, that was some great advice. Pick an ER and observe for a couple days and see just what are the job descriptions of each of the professions. Nursing is less time, less responsibility, less money etc. MDs spend a lot of time working toward their eventual goal. Age is something to think about for some people. What else do you want to do with your life? You can be whatever kind of practitioner you want to be. Some docs do just treat the disease, others are more holistic than any nurse could ever claim to be. That is a personal decision on their part. As for being a CRNA....you need to be a nurse first if that is something you decide to do. While not all medical schools look at nursing as an acceptable major for getting into school...you could become a nurse, take the prerequisites for med school, and then decide. Not everyone who gets into medical school is a science major...I worked with a cardiothoracic surgeon who got his BA in English, but he took all the prerequisites for medical school. That could be something else to consider.

meredithxm · Aug 9, 2004

maybe you should shadow a doctor of osteopathy?It seems like you are looking for a holistic approach to care as well as an intense education... DO and NP are both great routes for that.

Maggie in NC · Aug 9, 2004

I'm probably going to open a WHOLE new debate but if you're interested in holistic medicine, you may want to consider being a D.O. instead of an M.D. Patients don't really know the difference but I bet the nurses here can tell the difference when they work with them. Just a thought. Good luck-what ever you decide.

studentrn621 · Aug 9, 2004

**********************

susanna · Aug 9, 2004

I think most of us could have done anything we wanted to and chose nursing. I think if you want to care for people and make a difference in individual lives, then nursing is the way to go. With health care as it is in the US today, there is far too much BS the physicians have to deal with. Not only do they have to go to undergraduate school and do well, then 4 years of med school, an intern year and several years as a resident and many more depending on your speciality. Then you have many thousands of dollars of debt if you are typical. Once you are ready to set out your shingle, you have to consider malpractice insurance, the overhead of opening a practice or at best getting into partnership. Then you have to pay personel, not just your medical staff but receptionist, insurance specialists etc. You still have to maintain medical records, as well as the usual office stuff. Then if one of your patients is in the hospital, you have to make rounds, unless you are on staff where they have hospitalists (or you may want to be a hospitalist to avoid the hassle of an office). You may have time to spend 15 minutes with each patient as you send them off to get lab, x-rays, EKG's and such. Gone are the days of Marcus Welby and the family doctor. We are headed toward even more governmental intervention into healthcare and I believe most doctors will be salaried employees of the government. Nope, for me, I will be a nurse.

The 'physicians dealing with a whole lot more BS than nurses' idea is new for me. The way I figured it, it seems like there's a whole bunch of BS that nurses have to deal with too. From reading this site, it seems like nurses have to deal with insurance and awful stuff too. I thought we were all int he BS together. Do you honestly think one group puts up with a lot more than another?

I guess alot of you know my age because I posted it before but I'd rather not post it because I should like to think that age plays no matter in my decision-making(even if in reality, this will effect me later on) and would rather get advice that is not based on my age/perceived amount of "time to life and having a life of my own" I have left.

Maggie, I am researching the DO route right now. Thanks. Thanks for all the advice and arguments guys. I'm thinking...

CoreyB · Aug 9, 2004

There are always exceptions to the rule, but if the question is, on avg who are more holistic in their practice - then the answer is nurses. There is really no comparison. Doctors may spend more time in the hospital, but they're only spending about five to ten minutes with anyone patient. Not that many of them wouldn't like to spend more time, but their patient load won't allow it. There is no way you can have a truely holistic view in that short period of time - it just isn't possible. Nurses on the other hand spend 12hrs/day with their patients. I'm not arguing that one profession cares more about their patients than the other. I'm simply pointing out that one group is in a much better position to think and act holisticly. If you still doubt this you ought to spend some more time in the hospital. Don't just go to the ER for a few days. Go to the floor, L&D, and the ICU. Spend a few months volunteering. Talk to the doctors and nurses, and ask them about how much time they have to spend with their patients and what the focus of their attention usually is then form an opinion.

As for the BS, both professions have their headaches. Insurance is much more of an issue for physicians because it affects their compensation. Nurses are paid by the hospital whether they're patients are insured or not. Physicians generally have to employ or contract with someone to do their billing and collections (and I've heard it can be a real source of frustration).

Based on an objective analysis of all the professions you're considering, I think you'll find that they all have pros and cons. There is not one single profession that will have it all. Decide what aspects of healthcare are most important to you and make a choice.

RN92 · Aug 11, 2004

The difference between md's bs and a nurses bs (what they put up with and what nurses put up with)....is that they get paid a LOT more for it.! God Bless 'em all - I coudnt do it. I actually enjoy being around my family and having a life outside of work. It takes md's a very LONG time to reach a place in their careers where they can balance work life and home life.