Why have you decided to become a NP and not a Doctor?

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Just what the title says.

double post

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Not an NP YET but I will be giving it my all later this year.

Anyways....basically I didn't listen to my mom. She told me to go be a Chiropractor or M.D., that'd I'd love it and make a great living. As a RN of 25+ years at that time (now well over 30 years), I should have listened. I planned on working at GM like my father and grandfather, make $100k+ a year, and live a great life. Sadly, GM closed a year after I graduated high school and I told my mom, and I quote, "I don't want to touch disgusting people".

Here I am now, 6 years later, "Bob can you roll over? I need to shove this Tylenol in your rectum".

At 31, with a family, and a wife that doesn't make much money, I'm going the online NP (hopefully acute care) route. The old saying "Listen to your mother" and "Mother is always right" has never rang more true in my life. Live and learn.

I do love my job, but absolutely hate the politics and business side of it. You either get your numbers or patient care, not both.

Edit: As for the NP killing a patient, isolated incident. We have NP's here that did all online schooling that straight up kick ass at their jobs. If I were dying or my family, I'd call them before some docs. Yes, I put that much faith in them, which is why I'm trying to become an ACNP.

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Specializes in Family Nurse Practitioner.
Not an NP YET but I will be giving it my all later this year.

Anyways....basically I didn't listen to my mom. She told me to go be a Chiropractor or M.D., that'd I'd love it and make a great living. As a RN of 25+ years at that time (now well over 30 years), I should have listened. I planned on working at GM like my father and grandfather, make $100k+ a year, and live a great life. Sadly, GM closed a year after I graduated high school and I told my mom, and I quote, "I don't want to touch disgusting people".

Here I am now, 6 years later, "Bob can you roll over? I need to shove this Tylenol in your rectum".

At 31, with a family, and a wife that doesn't make much money, I'm going the online NP (hopefully acute care) route. The old saying "Listen to your mother" and "Mother is always right" has never rang more true in my life. Live and learn.

I do love my job, but absolutely hate the politics and business side of it. You either get your numbers or patient care, not both.

.

Would have just liked this insightful post until you had to go and add the edit. :)

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I might have mentioned this in an old post but there are several reasons why I didn't pursue medical school. Firstly, I am a second-degree nurse. I had a previous career for more than 15 years not related to medicine or health care. I seriously considered becoming an MD and I did some informational interviews with MDs. One MD, she was the most memorable. Maybe she was having a bad day, but she was very straightforward with me during that interview. She asked me what I ultimately wanted to do and I told her to help my patients and make a difference. She said then I should be an occupational therapist or a nurse, because as an MD, I would spend a lot of time in an office just acting as a director and having about five minutes of face time.

I also had to consider my age (I was in my mid-30s at the time). I didn't want to be an MD at age 90 (slight exaggeration, but you know what I mean).

I got into an accident during my career-change debate that put me into the hospital for about a week. I was pretty much out of it for most of my stay. Whom do I remember the most? I remember one nurse in particular, and he inspired me to look into nursing. I was so impressed by him, I thought, "If my parents/loved ones were sick, I would want someone like him to take care of them."

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Similar story to those above. I went to college right from high school, but viewed it as a place to have fun and be social. I did well, but I certainly didn't want to go to school any longer than 4 years at the time. I worked for years in laboratory medicine, got my MBA and went into management for a while. By the time I realized I wanted to go into direct patient care I was already in my 40s. I had 2 kids and medical school was out of the question. I could not see incurring that much debt and being out of the workforce for the length of time medical school would demand. I also wanted my life to belong to me, and that wouldn't happen if I chose the MD route. To be honest, my real regret is that I didn't go to vet school.

I don't see being an NP as "settling". I get to do what I love, I'm not married to my job, I have little debt, and I make a good living. Nothing wrong with that, in my eyes.

I'm sorry to pry, but I'd like to ask you what little debt means. I dont want exact numbers (that's def rude to ask), but going to start a BSN program at chamberlain and will finish in 2 years. Only catch is it will cost me around 50 K to complete. I make almost no money now so I feel like it's worth it as long as I know that in the end I'll go from almost no income to 50k of earnings annually. What is considered too much school debt in your opinion?

Thanks!

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Specializes in Adult Internal Medicine.
I'm sorry to pry, but I'd like to ask you what little debt means. I dont want exact numbers (that's def rude to ask), but going to start a BSN program at chamberlain and will finish in 2 years. Only catch is it will cost me around 50 K to complete. I make almost no money now so I feel like it's worth it as long as I know that in the end I'll go from almost no income to 50k of earnings annually. What is considered too much school debt in your opinion?

Thanks!

thats awful don't do it.

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Less years of school towards practicing Medicine and for economic reasons

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Specializes in Family Nurse Practitioner.
I'm sorry to pry, but I'd like to ask you what little debt means. I dont want exact numbers (that's def rude to ask), but going to start a BSN program at chamberlain and will finish in 2 years. Only catch is it will cost me around 50 K to complete. I make almost no money now so I feel like it's worth it as long as I know that in the end I'll go from almost no income to 50k of earnings annually. What is considered too much school debt in your opinion?

Thanks!

Prior to reading BostonFNP's comment I didn't respond because I second guessed whether my idea of an acceptable cost for a BSN was out of date. Speaking only for myself no debt was acceptable. I started with a community college that was only a few thousand dollars a semester lived simply and worked through my entire nursing education paying as I went along and graduating debt free.

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I'm 44yrs old. If I wanted to go for an MD, I'd need to take some more science and possibly math classes before I could even apply to MD school. Then there's the MCAT's. I've been an RN for 20yrs now, with 12 of them being in critical care. I am smart. I have good clinical skills. I figure my strengths will be much better utilized as a Nurse Practitioner!

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Specializes in allergy and asthma, urgent care.
I'm sorry to pry, but I'd like to ask you what little debt means. I dont want exact numbers (that's def rude to ask), but going to start a BSN program at chamberlain and will finish in 2 years. Only catch is it will cost me around 50 K to complete. I make almost no money now so I feel like it's worth it as long as I know that in the end I'll go from almost no income to 50k of earnings annually. What is considered too much school debt in your opinion?

ity of my debt forgiven (thank you, Pres. Obama), and my state forgave another $10,000.

Thanks!

I came out of school with less than $10,000 of debt. I went through the National Health Service Corp Loan Repayment Program and had the majority of my debt forgiven (thank you, Pres. Obama), and my state forgave another $10,000.

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For a combination of personal reasons, which included a medical error that led to death of my brother, I rescinded my medical school admissions and decided I did not want to be a doctor. Truth is, I was always concerned about patient care, and immediately started thinking about nursing school. Recently, I started working with a Children's Hospital that is almost entirely charity run, and that made my decision for me. I went home from orientation and applied to nursing schools. I intend on continuing on for a DNP, and eventually can see myself involved in administration. I believe since nurses have more interaction with their patients that this is the best way to have a voice and ability to help improve patient care standards.

It may sound altruistic, but it's the truth.

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