<p>I have a somewhat different take on this issue. We have several nurses and doctors in our circle of friends and I honestly have never encountered ANYone who doesn’t respect nurses. I have two friends whose daughters are new nursing grads and they had their pick of several job opportunities. Nurses, like any profession, earn respect by doing a good job. Anyone who’s had the occasion to be in a hospital knows the importance of good nursing, and is appreciative for it. I think that sometimes when patients have a negative experience with a particular nurse, and it does happen, then that negative word-of-mouth is likely to get more ‘play’ than the positive. This is the case with any type of issue, in my opinion.</p>
<p>One thing which I find whenever this issue is raised, here or elsewhere, is that there is the instant comparison between nurses and doctors. They are very different professions, with different educational requirements, different responsibilities, different skills. Both perform valuable services which should, and do in many instances, complement each other. I’ve served as the volunteer convenor at two different hospitals over the years and, in my experience, most doctors and nurses work well together, respect each other, and provide good care. There will always be those who don’t, both doctors and nurses, but then you’ll find that in any profession, just as you’ll find ignorant people who are only impressed if someone has an M.D. after their name.</p>
<p>alwaysamom
I have found the respect for nurses from physicians increasing by leaps and bounds in my 25 years in the profession. The people who don’t respect nursing are usually those not in health care because they are operating with stereotypes and little information about nursing.</p>
<p>Mardad
I think female MDs are most condescending also. I think it’s because they don’t want to be confused with the female dominated nursing profession. In my OB unit you can’t tell the docs from the nurses as we all wear scrubs and they become VERY offended when patients call them a nurse</p>
<p>I’m a nurse and I’d be very much against my kids following in my footsteps. Fortunately, none of them have expressed any interest in doing so. I do feel very appreciated and respected by the majority of my patients, as well as people I meet outside of my work role. Unfortunately, I can’t say that about nursing adminstration. It’s a constant numbers battle for staff, and to them, a nursing tech is the same as an RN. I’m very grateful for the doctors who fight to keep RN to patient ratios reasonable, without their voice, things would be much worse at my hospital. </p>
<p>The number one plus of the job to me is scheduling. I can work two shifts per week and make more than most women make working full time Monday-Friday jobs. That frees me up to be Mom, my real job.</p>
<p>As for RNs never making the money that physicians make, that depends. I know experienced RNs making more than pediatricians for example. Orthopedic surgeons would be a different story. I never had a desire to be a doctor though. It’s apples and oranges, and I had a strong desire to graduate and get on with my life at a young age.</p>
<p>I have always had respect for nurses!!! My grandmom, mom, aunt, 2 cousins, 2 s-i-l’s and a good friend were/are nurses. And my niece who is graduating hs next month will go to college to study nursing!</p>
<p>All of them have benefited from the flexibility the profession offers, i.e. working ER or critical care when younger & more energetic (or before kids!), then maybe working as contract nurses for gov’mt offices, or in doctors offices or in nursing homes or skilled care facilities. Lots of options depending on how the rest of your life is going; good opportunities to do overtime or to re-locate to other areas - nursing is highly transferable!
My respect for nurses is high & any I have met continue to hold my respect and admiration. It’s a job I’d love to do, but know that I truly am not suited for & I’m always thankful that there ARE others who are suited for it & pursue it with passion!</p>
<p>Sideline: House is one of the worst and best MD shows ever done. The character is great, and the diagnoses/presentations are the most obscure ever found, but the realism of how the hospital runs, what are the functions of doctors, nurses and residents/fellows is non-existent. Those 3 residents/fellows do everything, except surgery, never surgery, House does all the thinking, and the nurses, ?there are nurses on that show, I never noticed??? For the longest though, DD and I speculated that House’s friend, the ?neurologist, was imaginary. For about 5 episodes in a row last year, only House spoke to the friend - they would walk through the hospital and no one else ever acknowledged his presence. Then finally the female COS/admin spoke to the friend - we were so relieved that he wasn’t a figment of House’s imagination, or a drug induced hallucination.</p>
<p>Newly graduated nurses can easily make in the realm of $50-60K. Not bad for a four year degree! And the flexibility of a nursing degree is great. Not only are there many different work environments to choose from, but there is alot of flexibility in scheduling.</p>
<p>I am a pharmacist, and seeing how much nurses do, I have nothing but respect for them. Nurses are really the first and last step in patient care.</p>
<p>cangel: If someone is staring blankly at House, or drops a tray of instruments, or some boneheaded move, it is a nurse. </p>
<p>I loved Hugh Laurie in both the Bertie & Jeeves series and the Black Adder shows imported from Great Britain. Does anyone remember them? (Sorry to go off topic.)</p>
<p>As a nurse, I want to make it clear that I don’t begrudge the $$$ docs make. A hugh commitment goes into med school, internships, residency, board certifications, etc. Docs should make good $$$. I want a good number of our best & brightest to continue entering the field of midicine, and no matter how principled someone is, he or she still should expect high compensation for such an important and difficult job. I just resented the mess that sloppy docs left the night shift nurses in when they failed to renew meds or assess the patients properly and would then have a fit when called at night to rectify the problem. In my experience, these docs were always the ones who refused to allow the residents to write orders for their patients.</p>
<p>I teach at community college and most of my students are nursing students. The Associates Degree in Nursing (ADN) at my cc takes about three years (including a year of prerequisites). The ADN program at our cc is pretty inexpensive. The ninety or so credits to get the ADN will cost a student less than $7000. In my area, nurses who graduate with an ADN and those that have a BSN are paid the same rates. Some hospitals will pay for a student’s nursing education if that student promises to work for them for a specified time. I know of one hospital near me that has college classes in the hospital campus for their nurse-employees with associates degrees who are pursuing the BSN. </p>
<p>In recent years I have had many students who were pursuing a second-degree nursing program. These are students who already have a bachelor’s degree in engineering, teaching, psychology, etc, and want to do an accelerated nursing program. These accelerated programs are sometimes as short as 13 months. I currently have a student who has a bachelor’s degree, a MPH - both from a “public ivy” - and another master’s degree. She is now planning to apply to an accelerated nursing program. I also have many students who are applying to the CRNA porgram. Applicants to the CRNA program have to have a BSN and a year’s experience in critical care. CRNAs in my state start at $150,000 year. I once saw an ad in North Dakota for a CRNA position that paid $180,000/year.</p>
<p>Most people realize that there is a shortage of nurses. However, many people don’t know there is a severe shortage of nursing instructors. I always encourage my good students to consider teaching at a nursing school.</p>
<p>Well 4 of my sisters, my mom, my wife and one of my brothers are all nurses.</p>
<p>Now my wife would have a fit if my son switched from pre-med to nursing.</p>
<p>My sisters, and brother would all understand.</p>
<p>My wife came from a poor background and had the drive and everything else to become a doctor if it had been more possible. She worked herself out of poverty through the LVN to RN route and at one time almost had a deal to have the military pay her way through med school, when married to deadbeat first husband who seldom worked.</p>
<p>I’m glad to see this thread given the overwhleming elitism shown on these boards which at times I find a bit much, despite enjoying a lot of the personalities and posts.</p>
<p>Well 4 of my sisters, my mom, my wife and one of my brothers are all nurses.</p>
<p>Now my wife would have a fit if my fresman son switched from pre-med to nursing.</p>
<p>All of us are roughly top 20 college types in terms of scores, and for some, grades, too.</p>
<p>My sisters, and brother would all understand.</p>
<p>My wife came from a poor background and had the drive and everything else to become a doctor if it had been more possible. She worked herself out of poverty through the LVN to RN route and at one time almost had a deal to have the military pay her way through med school, when married to deadbeat first husband who seldom worked.</p>
<p>I’m glad to see this thread given the overwhleming elitism shown on these boards which at times I find a bit much, despite enjoying a lot of the personalities and posts.</p>
<p>I’m not sure which I would choose, as I am the rebel in the family, though I used to threaten to go to nursing school, too. My brother finished at 50.</p>
<p>I can see the advantages of nursing given the flexibility. My two best friends from college are both doctors. I personally would be completely burned out to work the hours they do. One is a busy family practioner. The other has struck it rich in medicine as a nephrologist and owner of dialysis clinics.</p>
<p>I think Iwould choose nursing given the flexibility,though there may be types of medicine such as emergency room doctor that might do.</p>
<p>“House is one of the worst and best MD shows ever done.”</p>
<p>Reminds me of that old Firesign Theater skit - “Name that Disease” (that ends with “I’m terribly sorry. You’ve got…the Plague. Let’s hear it for our next contestant, a 26-year-old housewife from…”</p>
<p>I really liked * St Elsewhere* probably pretty MD heavy though as opposed to emphasis on nursing
( I believe by the same team that made Northern Exposure)</p>
<p>Docs aren’t necessarily good with people, IMO, nurses have to be, or at least have intentions that way.-
Even those docs who deal directly with people ( shrinks) aren’t as esteemed as those who do surgery & the finer detail the better.
The docs do really depend on the nurses though-especially as health care gets more stratified, I see more going to PA, or NP, for their care- MDs only for the extreme invasive stuff</p>
<p>Sorry to keep diverting, I was being sarcastis about the nurses on House, they just don’t seem to exist, which is of course, wrong. I think though that House is not all supposed to be realistic - sort of an impression of an incredibly eccentric genius. Yes, I love Hugh Laurie - except in the dreadful Stuart Little with Geena Davis.</p>
<p>To the OP - what horrible comments. I would say that the people who made those comments have no imagination. Perhaps,in part, the comments must have been made from someone who does not live (or relish, as I do) in the world of academics. </p>
<p>When deciding what career path I was going to pursue I seriously considered nursing. Some of the reasons I wanted to do nursing was that I was interested the educational aspect of care and I knew that if all these other women could do it then I could to. More important, though, was my intense interest in biochemistry. I found out that one of the growing needs in the nursing profession is actually college professors and researchers. So not only a nurses in short supply in terms of direct patient care - apparently they are also needed in academics. I was told that finding a PhD level nurse to teach in a University setting is becoming more difficult as nursing departments are now demanding that their faculty be fulling trained nurses as well as experts in academic subjects such as anatomy, pharmacology, pathology etc. I was mentored by a wonderful nurse who has written several pathophysiology textbooks and in the end when I told her my reasons for not choosing to become a nurse she understood. </p>
<p>I had some good and not so good reasons to make my decisions - in the end, I do regret not becoming a nurse. Alot of my regret stems from seeing the potential that career would have for me today - especially in terms of teaching and doing research at a University level. </p>
<p>I do think it is a shame that nurse practitioners and paid less that most PAs. Having reviewed (on a superficial level only) the curriculum of both programs I really don’t understand why a PA would demand a higher salary - the only thing I could ever come up with is that the PA program was originally started to transition military medics into a civilian job and, yes, this until very recently was a male dominated auxillary health care profession. </p>
<p>My cousin is a nurse and she says that one simple change that they have made in the hospital where she works has made a huge difference in the level of respect she receives from staff administration, physicians, and patients. The director of nursing now requires all the nurses to wear white. My cousin hated it at first - but now she said it has made a big difference not only in the way others view her but how she views her job. She said that she does feel more “professional” and that when she enters a patient’s room at the hospital there is no guessing about who she is and what the scope of her practice is. </p>
<p>In terms of money, I think level of experience, location, etc make the biggest difference as it does in most other occupations.</p>
<p>people keep commenting about nurses making around 120k a year etc … i was just wondering is that with extra education or is that working up the ladder? I know some can make good money but usually it involves graveyard shifts or some specialised knowledge.</p>
<p>I find teaching and secretaries get similar reactions as nursing. I went to ‘secratarty school’ for a while and i actually found it harder than university (maybe as that sort of study/skills was def not my strong point … or maybe because i grately underestimated it prior to starting).</p>
<p>I have been a nurse for 20 years and make 120K. I do direct patient care, do not work weekends, holidays or nights/evenings I am salaried, so I do not get overtime. I earn 8 weeks of vacation per year
I am not an advanced practice nurse, but I do have a graduate degree and function in a nurse specialist role. I work a a major medical center in a large east coast city. Every nurse in my unit has a similar salary, some only with BSNs, no graduate work, but with about 20 years of experience. NPs and RNs are paid on the same scale based on years of education, years of service. Raises are based on merit.</p>
<p>New graduate nurses at my institution start at about $65-70,000 per year. They get yearly merit increases (usually about 5%) and every other year a market adjustment to keep their salaries in line with other area institutions. They receive differential pay for off shifts, weekends, and holidays. Nurses that work permanent nights earn about 20K more then their day/evening shift counterparts and get free parking (parking runs about 10 bucks a day). </p>
<p>We work hard but are well compensated and respected by our clinical peers. Our hospital works hard to recruit and retain talented staff.</p>
<p>I make around 70K/year for two night shifts per week, with 20 years experience. Five weeks vacation/year, though actually getting your time off can be difficult. </p>
<p>I started out making 25K, working 40 hours per week, with two weeks vacation. New grads today start around 60K, with no difference between associate degree or BSN grads at my hospital. A BSN will give you a chance for branching out into other opportunities, but for staff nurses it doesn’t influence compensation.</p>
<p>I’m 31 and trying to get into Nursing, still have some pre-reqs to finish before I apply to a nursing school, but I would definitely consider being an instructor once I get enough years and experience under my belt. Just by seeing the number of impacted schools, I know good teachers are definitely needed just to accommodate the rising demand by Nursing students. Plus my MA instructor who is also an RN has been one of my greatest influences and a great person in general. It would feel good to make a positive impact on students like myself and pay it forward in my own way. :)</p>