The nurse does all the work--while the doctor makes all the money?

[question111]

Hi,

I just have a question. I just overheard a conversation the other day in class, and I was extremely shocked at what I heard.

This pre-med student was taking to someone else. She said that she was volunteering at a clinic and the doctor hardly ever showed up. I believe it was a private cardiology clinic. She said that the doctor would show up for maybe a few hours, talk to the nurses, and go away. some days the doctor would not show up. The nurses would see patients, prescribe medication, etc. Any questions, the nurses would just call the doctor. Any complicated patients, the doctor would see (this student thinks).

She was saying that the doctor makes all the money. (And it sounded like this was a big motivator for her, like she approved of it).

I am guessing that these nurses were nurse practitioners.

Is this true? Can this really happen? Like, the nurses do mostly all the work, but the doctor take all the money? I live in Texas, and is this legal?

Thanks

[DixieRedHead, ASN, RN]

1. Yes, it's true.

2. Yes, it happens.

3. Yes, the doctor takes the money. That's what he gets for the investment in the years he put in in medical school, training, and the facility.

4. Yes, it's legal.

[TheCommuter, BSN, RN]

I once worked at a factory, and one of my former supervisors told me something that has always stuck: The more you know, the less you do. Highly educated people are not paid for what they do; they are paid for what they know.

Most doctors earn solid upper middle-class incomes, and some are very wealthy. They also have attained plenty of education: 4 years for a baccalaureate degree, 4 years of medical school, and anywhere from 3 to 7 years of residency. Therefore, physicians have anywhere from 11 to 15 years of very challenging higher education, and can command excellent pay for 'doing very little' because they are paid for what they know.

[elkpark]

Well, just to get nitpicky, the physician doesn't make all the money ...

[question111]

Thank you all for explaining and confirming.

I was just wondering, can nurses do procedures, like outpatient surgeries? What about more complicated ones?

Thank you

[Rob72, ASN, RN]

Depends on level of practice and State NPA. "Surgeries", not as far as I know, but suturing, debridment"(which may be defined as minor surgical procedures(?)), some others.

Be aware, the doc also pay the most in Liability Insurance. For ED docs, that can be $150,000/year or more- that's out-of-pocket, beyond whatever group rate they may have. I knew a physcian, named twice in spurious suits, who was told by legal to simply drop his insurance, and have a "suit-escrow", as coverage would not validate the premiums.

[campton]

Yes it is very true. That happens in a lot of fields. Take denistry. The person you see most (hopefully) is the dental hygienist; however, they are paid less than a dentist who handles the more severe cases.