Working Under a MD or DO as a NP

[FlameHeart, CNA]

I had some questions.

 

I'm planning to in the future about 10 or so years from now moving somewhere extremely rural and building a Homestead, after getting my BSN and some years of traveling and marriage, and live on it with other married Christian couples in a community style living raising 5 children for each couple most of them adopted.

 

Homesteading pretty much means living on a farm without needing any supplies or contact with the outside world.

 

However I was thinking of also working within about 1 hour driving distance working in a nearby small rural town under an MD or DO in a small outpatient clinic (with the possibility that this MD or DO will also be one the parents on our Homestead to provide care for all of us there especially the many children) that also provides Home Health Care to the entire small town rural community which may be spread out among the wilderness or closer in town or in inbetween parts.

 

I've considered becoing a Doctor in the past but God led me to Nursing and I plan on staying in this field. I love to learn and provide as much care as I am able to and legally allowed to. I also love spending 3-4 hours a day with 1 patient taking care of them usually long term, perhaps people won't need me me every week in this kind of job and that's OK but there's no way I'm ever seeing 12 patients every hour in 1 day for a 12 hour shift. With the Homestead with wife and kids I don't plan to be working more than 6-7 hours a day 5 days a week.

 

I can't deny my hunger for more medical knowledge however I'm under no delusion that no matter how much education I get in Nursing I will never be equal in education to a Medical Doctor or Doctor of Osteopathy and I am comfortable with that. I am not going to try to be something I am not.

 

My main question is: do you think it is possible to do all of this and have a DNP working under a MD or DO?

 

I will not make diagnoses (but will recommend them to my Doctor), I will not prescribe medications (but will of course recommend them to my Doctor), and although I probably will make House Calls alone I will stay within communication with my Doctor and follow his Lead about everything (he may let me make some decisions on my own, but I will of course chart everything and bring it to his clinic for his review).

 

I don't mind being a Nurse Practitioner or whatever else title I can get with a DNP but I really prefer to do all the above and I love working bedside handson with no task beneath me and since will be Rural Nursing I don't expect I will have any Nurses or Aides under me to do the things like the occasional toileting and bathing and changing wound dressings in addition to exams and administering medicine.

 

Basically I love Nursing I just like expanding my medical knowledge over the years, but my idea of Nursing is not much different than my idea of being a Doctor: working at the bedside of people to take care of them as much as we are educated and legally allowed to do, with the main difference being Doctors having more of a leadership role and far more years of education than a Nurse.

[NO JOKES OR PUNS ALLOWED, BSN, RN]

Cool story, bro.

People say they want people to be honest in their assessments and often don't mean it. You sure you want my answer about your ideas?

[NutmeggeRN, BSN]

So, to be clear, you are a CNA at present? or are you in the process of pursuing your BSN as a current RN? In some states, NPs can hang their own shingle and diagnose and prescribe. I suspect the landscape will change, a lot, in the next 10 years or so. I would focus on one level at a time (keeping an eye on your dreams) and see what the years bring.

Good Luck!

[TypicalCVNurse, ADN]

On 3/7/2022 at 2:34 PM, FlameHeart said:

I also love spending 3-4 hours a day with 1 patient taking care of them usually long term, perhaps people won't need me me every week in this kind of job and that's OK but there's no way I'm ever seeing 12 patients every hour in 1 day for a 12 hour shift.

I don't know any NP's who spend 3-4 hours with a single patient but that's not to say that job doesn't exist. 

 

On 3/7/2022 at 2:34 PM, FlameHeart said:

I will not make diagnoses (but will recommend them to my Doctor), I will not prescribe medications (but will of course recommend them to m), and although I probably will make House Calls alone I will stay within communication with my Doctor and follow his Lead about everything (he may let me make some decisions on my own, but I will of course chart everything and bring it to his clinic for his review).

NPs routinely diagnose and prescribe medications (sometimes completely independently). It may be beneficial for you to research the field of advanced practice nurses, possibly even shadowing an NP, so that you can make a more educated decision regarding your future education. 

Good Luck