Why don't you want to do nursing instead?

That is true. However what proportion of nurses will go into those specialist roles? Not that many. And even if you are going to become a nurse practitioner/consultant/specialist etc you look at fair few years in the staff nurse role first.

this should get interesting....chocolate biscuits anyone?

*waits for nazi med student*

I'm a student nurse. I've just had an educational assesment and they said I could have been a doctor, the trouble is I haven't got the qualifications just the ability. Never mind though, it's a very rewarding career just nowhere near as much money.

I know. I bet I just cursed my whole future career with that one post
"cup of teeeeea"

Yes they can. Look up Nurse Practitioner. Sort of like a GP, except they get paid 4 times less.

This is one of the slip ups to the question "Why do you want to be a doctor and not a nurse?". Other comon misconceptions are:

1. Nurses CAN prescribe.
2. Nurses DO lead teams- just look at Walk-in centres

Plus many more.

hmm, i would say..and this is the reverse of the response i gave in my nursing interview (when asked why i wasn't going into medicine, with my a-levels and experience)

nursing = responsibility
nursing = problem solving
nursing = understanding of the body, pharmacology, clinical issues (although you're right the average staff nurse would not know as much as a nurse prac)...but its the areas in which these nurses have responsibility, HOW they problem solve and what they problem solve, maybe try and get some experience for a few hours or a day or so with a nursing team, and compare this to your medical WE, and this may help you give a better answer?

Please don't take offense from this post.

I have done nursing WE and medical WE

nursing - primarily giving out medication, talking to patients about how they feel, reporting back to drs
medical - taking on board nursing reports and actually solving the problems, rather than being told them

Not sure how I would translate this into a valid arguement as to why I would rather be a dr though

what area of nursing did you get experience in? a lot of it is reporting back observations, a lot..lots and lots...lol but also care planning, the problem solving is here, ie what would you do with a dehydrated patient, one who has a developing pressure sore, constipated...when would you decide to do a fluid balance chart, increase observations, know what to report and why, WHY are you giving out this medication, how can we get this patient to eat, be mobile..obviously this is input from the MDT too, but..just a few examples of problem solving nurses do, we don't do problem based/evidence based degrees for no reason!

what area of nursing did you get experience in? a lot of it is reporting back observations, a lot..lots and lots...lol but also care planning, the problem solving is here, ie what would you do with a dehydrated patient, one who has a developing pressure sore, constipated...when would you decide to do a fluid balance chart, increase observations, know what to report and why, WHY are you giving out this medication, how can we get this patient to eat, be mobile..obviously this is input from the MDT too, but..just a few examples of problem solving nurses do, we don't do problem based/evidence based degrees for no reason!

surgical ward. I shall go and have a ponder

I think you have to be pretty skillful to be a nurse- my grandmother, who was a doctor often said that nurse's work is neither easier nor less important than doctor's. But I would prefer to be a doctor, because I'm interested in diseases and the way they affect people, plus there is the matter of pay

lol the pay is a bonus, its not something ive ever considered, i guess nursing is more flexible too, for raising a family, seems premature to consider i know, but..it is a lot more flexible than in medicine, plus when i did my medicine work experience, i valued the patient contact a lot more in nursing, nothing is more satisfying than walking your bay with your sister, and all the patients you've cared for with your mentor, or a HCA are satisfied, well..etc..and you know why they're there, what they're here for, what their plan of action is..and they're all happy and satisfied as you'd spent 2-3 days caring for them, nothing beats it, I'd miss it if i was a doctor..i'd miss sitting at the end of my bay chatting to a patient whilst doing paperwork etc Im interested in diseases too, and how they affect the body- but enjoy the nursing interventions into these illnesses much more!

I guess its a good thing that you love your job, its an important factor . Quite a few of my friends are going to be nurses
I have a look at a plaster casting operation, where the nurse has effectively plastered man's hand, and she turned out to be my mum's old friend and collegue She and the doctor in charge made a good team, and I think its also important for a doctor to have a good relationship with nurse. If it was up to me, nurses would have been paid more money But if you are a specialist nurse you get paid more, no?

I got this question at Newcastle. I just said i wanted a job that incorporated more science and that i wanted the added responsibility and decision making of being the doctor.

...nothing is more satisfying than walking your bay with your sister, and all the patients you've cared for with your mentor, or a HCA are satisfied, well..etc..and you know why they're there, what they're here for, what their plan of action is..and they're all happy and satisfied as you'd spent 2-3 days caring for them, nothing beats it, I'd miss it if i was a doctor...

oh gosh yes, specialists..managment, matrons..practitioners, pratice nurses, all earn a good good wage, it'd be fab if nurses could get paid more, but c'est la vie, i'd do the job whatever the wage as long as i could live on it

It is important for a good relationship...with anyone, even the cleaners! you do find many doctors don't always get the nurses role and what we do, but i guess at the same time, with the new agendas coming in, many nurses are feeling that way too now, but im hoping when i qualify, and the review is implemented, it'd be clearer and easier in the working enviroment..doubt it tho lol

and thanks for reminding me why i'm doing it, its hard to remember when you're bogged down with assignments

Is it just me or does it sound an awful lot like an usual ward round?

Medicine pays better and doesn't have the feminine connotations.

Ha watch and wait. Watch and wait.