nurses vs. doctors

OHHH---- My, this may be a can of worms....

But you are welcome to do a search here at the site for prior threads relating to Dr-Nurse jobs/relationships, etc.

I wish you much luck/success.

and welcome to allnurses.com! Glad to have you.

I like being a nurse because I have more hands on time with the patient, and don't have a practice with a huge amount of patients. I see my few patients at work, get to know them real well, take care of their every single need and make a difference in their lives, and get to go home without a beeper.

i'm doin a paper on nurses vs. doctors and need more info i was just cerious what ya'll think about this subject? what are the advantages and disadvantages that nurses have over doctors or vise versa? what makes either one a better choice?

thanx!

I mean no disrespect, but are you expecting to see this turn into some type of competition? Frankly, you might as soon write a paper about "Pharmacists vs Veterinarians: Which is the Better Choice?" given how broad and diverse the scopes of practice are from each other. Both in the medical field? Yes. Choosing one over the other like on a pro-con list? Not realistic, IMO.

Choosing one over the other like on a pro-con list? Not realistic, IMO.

Fair is fair - many of us did some kind of "pro vs con" when we chose to go with nursing as a career. Nursing schools constantly try to "sell" their nursing programs by advertising the benefits of a nursing career.

But I think pro vs con is only possible when you put it in perspective. For example, when you say "advantage" - what do you mean? For instance, I look at nursing and see that I have more patient contact time - I see that as an advantage, someone else may see that as a disadvantage.

I think OP needs to pick a set of criteria of "advantages" and "disadvantages" and then compare - the question as it stands now is too broad and vague.

IMHO.

cheers,

I agree - nursing and medicine are allied, but different, professions. Perhaps you could investigate the scope of practice of each from your state/government practice acts and go from there.

It is like asking accountant vs. chef - not really comparing apples with apples.

I was going to use Apples vs Oranges: Which is the Better Fruit? but decided to stick with medical analogies

i'm doin a paper on nurses vs. doctors and need more info i was just cerious what ya'll think about this subject? what are the advantages and disadvantages that nurses have over doctors or vise versa? what makes either one a better choice?

thanx!

Hi-

I'd say... leave out the "vs" and identify thier parts in collaboration. :0) How does the patient get total care? Advantages are going to be purely subjective-- leaving the money out of it, I'm not sure I'd want to be a doctor, unless I wanted to avoid the tip toeing of nursing diagnosis.

I've just decided I want to be an Orange. Where do I sign up??

Sigh....not enough sleep, and still tapping keys. Yikes.

i'm doin a paper on nurses vs. doctors and need more info i was just cerious what ya'll think about this subject? what are the advantages and disadvantages that nurses have over doctors or vise versa? what makes either one a better choice?

thanx!

I don't mean to be densely literal, but what exactly are you asking? What are the advantages/disadvantages of nursing vs. medicine in WHAT WAY? Approaches to patient care? (moot point - modern medicine is based on the collaborative practices of medicine, nursing & other allied health fields) Nursing vs. medicine as a career choice? (entirely different topic, and also very subjective - someone's ideal job may be to be a garbage collector). Nurses vs. doctors in a wrestling match?? :pumpiron:

Figure out what you're trying to argue for or against and you'll have the framework of your paper.

Maybe it's just me ...

I see posts such as this fairly regularly, with posters stating that they are assigned to write papers on "provocative" topics such as ADN/BSN, etc. Students can collect opinions & research studies arguing one point or another until the cows come home ... but can students really draw meaningful conclusions, when they as yet have no work experience as nurses? Is it a positive thing to draw such conclusions before heading out into the workplace?

Just my two cents ...

I was going to use Apples vs Oranges: Which is the Better Fruit? but decided to stick with medical analogies

I'm going to put myself in the bananas category...

If we were talking meat group, I'd be nuts. :-)

If there's a pomegranate category, I'd like to be in it.

Seriously, if you're asking which is better, the counter-question is, "better in what way?"

Here are some advantages that come to mind when I ask myself if I wish I'd gone the doc route:

--shorter education time to be a nurse

--lower financial committment

--more flexibility as far as specialty. When I needed a break from

psych, I switched to postpartum. Can't do that very easily when you've invested 3-5 years in a residency.

--low overhead. Don't have to staff an office or buy tons of equipment. Give me scrubs and a stethoscope and I'm set.

--I like scrubs and prefer wearing them over business attire.

--many, many options. Can work anything from NICU to geriatrics and everything in between. Don't even have to have patient contact if I work in QA or insurance.

--longer patient contact time. Lots of teaching opportunities.

--can leave the job at work.

--option to work part time or per diem. Has been very valuable to me.

--potential for more family time. If I'd gone the medical route, I know I wouldn't have had six kids.

Considered becoming a doc. Had the grades. Had the interest and the motivation. Preferred nursing for all the above reasons and many more.