Should I try and become a Nurse in a Naturopathic Clinic or a Naturopathic Doctor?

Specialties Holistic Nursing Q/A

I am a 21 year old female and have been taking my prerequisites for Nursing. I felt very passionate about my choice, I do really enjoy caring for people and helping people. However, as I got further into my studies, talked to various RNs, and had researched the career for awhile, I realized how horrible our health care system really is in the U.S. I think that we rely too heavily on drugs and intoxicants, therefore I don't want to have to inject people with a bunch of drugs, like nurses have to do sometimes.

My mother in law who is an RN told me that at her hospital 14 patients died in one month due to medical errors(being given the wrong drugs).Then she told me that they actually had someone who's job it was to "erase" the medical error so that it doesn't make the hospital look bad and they never told the patients family. I was horrified. I don't want any part of that.

I believe that an organic diet, exercise, herbal TEAS, meditation, acupuncture, acupressure, Craniospinal therapy, etc. are the best ways of treating and preventing illness. So I have decided that I either want to be a Nurse(and later Nurse Practitioner) who works in a Naturopathic Clinic, or become a doctor who uses natural and alternative . My question is, to become a Naturopathic doctor do you HAVE to go to a special Naturopathic medical school or could you go to medical school and then just start your own Naturopathic practice?

Also, which option sounds best? I know that I would have to have a Bachelor's degree before I could go to med school anyway, so should I just continue on with Nursing and try to get into a Naturopathic Clinic?

Thanks

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To add, by no means would it be a stepping stone or anything of that nature. I genuinely love what nurses do and provide, I want that type of experience. I feel that being a nurse first would make me a better physician overall, & Naturopathy is based on the whole-person holistic system, so aside from the science required (you guys do realize to become a naturopath, basically the same pre-med hard sciences are required &the 1st 2yrs of ND school are very similar in rigor& requirement to MD..right..) approach, attention to detail, patient outlook, care& treatment almost feel the same (from someone who HASNT started any classes not has any experience, forgive me in advance again lol_you guys are brutal)

I know its ultimately apples and oranges when nursing vs medicine is concerned, but with naturopathy (as far as passion& whole patient outlook) it almost feels like oranges and grapefruits.. tangerines& clementines.. & on a path to naturopathy, nursing seems like valuable independent experience

Is that naive? Or misinformed? Plain dumb? Lol

Specializes in Nutritional Therapy, Functional Health.

SufiRN2B- What are your career goals with nursing? Do you plan on working in the field for several years prior to becoming a naturopath or would you just be doing it to obtain your BSN?

I do think that nursing would give you an understanding of the conventional medical philosophy that most naturopaths do not have and I see how that could prove useful. But I'm not exactly sure that I would recommend going that route if you aren't already a nurse. Nursing requires too much time and energy investment and it can be rather unfulfilling and frustrating in many ways if you have a holistic philosophy.

I guess the question you need to answer is what do you hope to gain from being a nurse prior to becoming a naturopath? If it is simply the allopathic experience/exposure, is it absolutely necessary to your career plans and is there another way that you could obtain similar experience (without the time and energy investment of nursing school)? There is no one right path and only you can decide for yourself what feels right.

Specializes in Reproductive & Public Health.
You need to go back and study the true history behind conventional medicine. When was it started? Why was it started? Let me simplify it for you, conventional medicine was started simply for monetary purposes. It was more profitable to keep people sick enough to just receive treatment rather than cure their disease completely. The government/medical industry has suppressed over 6000 invented cures that could have saved humanity from every disease out there including cancer. Do you really think they want to find a cure? You are so gullible.

Who are these people that are suppressing cures and cackling as they profit off the deaths of patients? Big pharma is profit driven, for sure, but the people on the front lines are just PEOPLE, like you and me, and the vast majority of us go into health care to help people.

Conventional medicine wasn't "started" out of a desire to keep people sick and profit off of them. It is a natural progression of the scientific method and our ongoing pursuit to find the best ways to help people. Sure, the history of allopathic medicine is riddled with mistakes, ethically questionable treatments, and straight up quackery. But what is important about allopathic medicine is that it is a system with built in self-correction. As we constantly evaluate and re-evaluate, as we check each other's work and attempt to verify results, we are able to identify that which works, that which doesn't and that which is harmful.

Specializes in Reproductive & Public Health.

Garlic has been proven to kill viruses and bacteria and lower blood pressure; without side effects. So does that fact that physicians in the U.S. don't prescribe garlic mean that it doesn't work, NO.

Diallyl sulfide, a compound in garlic, has been shown to have anti-viral and anti-bacterial effects when isolated and given in concentrated amounts (well above the amount you could get from ingesting garlic, and garlic supplements are not regulated to ensure standardization of their chemical contents).

Cranberry has been proven to benefit the urinary tract and aid in the treatment of U.T.I's without side effects. Only some doctors now recommend it, does that mean it doesn't work, NO.

Cranberry has been shown to help reduce the risk of developing a UTI. It has never shown any benefit in curing an established UTI.

Mainstream medicine is not covering up these types of things. Medical research is constantly evaluating plant based compounds, as they have been a primary source of medications throughout history. There are crappy providers who don't put in the time to counsel patients on non-medication components of therapy. But as a whole, providers are well aware of the impact that diet and lifestyle has on disease courses and overall well being.

Specializes in Tele, OB, public health.

Seriously, this conspiracy theory junk is just....:banghead:

STOP

This gives a bad name to holistic nursing

Specializes in Reproductive & Public Health.
Seriously, this conspiracy theory junk is just....:banghead:

STOP

This gives a bad name to holistic nursing

I agree :( Holistic nursing is an evidence based approach to health care, considering the person as a WHOLE instead of just their disease process.

Holistic nursing does not mean eschewing vaccines and curing cancer with coffee enemas. It means viewing our patients as people, not diagnoses. It's remembering that "the kidney infection" down the hall is also a father, a husband, a person with preferences, prejudices and ties in the community.

Every good nurse is a holistic nurse, in my opinion. Whether you work in the OR with unconscious patients or in a community health clinic, managing chronic diseases.

Specializes in Tele, OB, public health.
I agree :( Holistic nursing is an evidence based approach to health care, considering the person as a WHOLE instead of just their disease process.

Holistic nursing does not mean eschewing vaccines and curing cancer with coffee enemas. It means viewing our patients as people, not diagnoses. It's remembering that "the kidney infection" down the hall is also a father, a husband, a person with preferences, prejudices and ties in the community.

Every good nurse is a holistic nurse, in my opinion. Whether you work in the OR with unconscious patients or in a community health clinic, managing chronic diseases.

Can I get an Amen???

I stumbled on this thread and have to put my .02 in.

colloidal silver spray will turn you into a smurf, I literally had a stemi patient that was blue. Family member was a quack and a nurse. She tried to say he had mercury poisoning many years ago, while assessing the patient he revealed to me he took colloidal silver. I had him again a few days later, doctor prescribed a beta blocker and a statin, they refused the statin and acted upset that he was prescribed a statin.

I explained to her that it is a core measure to prescribe a statin.

Everyone should at least know what core measures are: https://www.northwesternmedicalcenter.org/hospital-quality-core-measure-update

I don't have a problem with anything backed by some science. Preventative medicine in the US is horrible and many are overmedicated. The whole country needs to seriously improve diet, eat real food, sleep more, work less. However, you cannot reverse serious disease processes with just healthy food/herbs. Medicine and surgeries are needed. Diet/exercise/herbs are great preventative care.

You can load up a cancer patient on all the organic kale you want, just follow the core measures. Someone on this thread mentioned Stanislaw Burzynski as a miracle cancer doc. Ummm, have you even googled his name? I saw his documentary, read about him from numerous sources, the testimonials in the documentary are BS.

Specializes in Tele, OB, public health.
I stumbled on this thread and have to put my .02 in.

colloidal silver spray will turn you into a smurf, I literally had a stemi patient that was blue. Family member was a quack and a nurse. She tried to say he had mercury poisoning many years ago, while assessing the patient he revealed to me he took colloidal silver. I had him again a few days later, doctor prescribed a beta blocker and a statin, they refused the statin and acted upset that he was prescribed a statin.

I explained to her that it is a core measure to prescribe a statin.

Everyone should at least know what core measures are: https://www.northwesternmedicalcenter.org/hospital-quality-core-measure-update

I don't have a problem with anything backed by some science. Preventative medicine in the US is horrible and many are overmedicated. The whole country needs to seriously improve diet, eat real food, sleep more, work less. However, you cannot reverse serious disease processes with just healthy food/herbs. Medicine and surgeries are needed. Diet/exercise/herbs are great preventative care.

You can load up a cancer patient on all the organic kale you want, just follow the core measures. Someone on this thread mentioned Stanislaw Burzynski as a miracle cancer doc. Ummm, have you even googled his name? I saw his documentary, read about him from numerous sources, the testimonials in the documentary are BS.

YES!!!

Take someone with renal failure off of dialysis, and that's it- for example

Do reiki, positive affirmations, and take herbs all you want, it don't mean a thing with something like that.

oops meant to say it is a core measure to prescribe a statin at discharge for a STEMI, sorry if that was confusing typed that one up in a hurry before bed

Specializes in Reproductive & Public Health.
Someone on this thread mentioned Stanislaw Burzynski as a miracle cancer doc. Ummm, have you even googled his name? I saw his documentary, read about him from numerous sources, the testimonials in the documentary are BS.

Seriously, this guy is a quack and as far as I am concerned, he has blood on his hands.

Specializes in Tele, OB, public health.
Seriously, this guy is a quack and as far as I am concerned, he has blood on his hands.

OMG, had never heard of this guy before, just looked him up:facepalm:

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