Feeling the pull of a career but unable to decide whether physician or nursing is right for you? You’re not alone.
Many students plan to go to a medical school but realize that nursing is the best fit for them. Similarly, some opt to specialize than choose primary care. While you continue to work for the health care industry, both of these job roles are significantly different.
Both physician and nursing involve different priorities and practices; therefore, it is necessary to be mindful of your decision before you choose to become a nurse or physician.
So, if you haven’t decided between nursing school and medical school, perhaps we can help you make the right decision. This article will shed some light on why you may prefer becoming a nurse instead of a physician and vice versa.
Table of Contents
Physician or Nurse: Two Different Career Paths
Before we compare the two professions, you must note one thing, i.e., both nurses and doctors have very different responsibilities and roles. You may have watched some shows in which nurses and doctors paint the picture of being in a constant state of competition; the truth is that both professionals play equally important roles in providing patient care. Also, each one of them brings a unique set of skills to the table.
- Educational Requirements
Today, it is not difficult to get the best education in these professions. For instance, if you want to pursue nursing, you can easily find many DNP online programs. In fact, today’s DNP-prepared nurses act more than just leaders. These professionals are not only revolutionizing the health care system as a whole but also advancing the future of the profession.
On the other hand, physicians get a Doctor of Osteopathy (DO) or Doctor of Medicine (MD) degree, requiring four years of medical school after completing a bachelor’s degree. Thus, to understand why the educational requirements of both professionals differ, it is important to consider what each of them does.
Physicians:
- Observe symptoms & diagnose
- Collect objective and subjective data
- Prescribe a treatment plan
- Interpret data (CT scans, lab results)
- Perform procedures
Nurses:
- Report critical information
- Collect objective and subjective data
- Help patients with ADLs (activities of daily living)
- Implement treatment plan
- Advocate for the patient
- Collaborate with the care team and make sure the treatment plan is properly carried out.
However, whether you aspire to become a physician or nurse practitioner, the mission of everyone who works in healthcare is the same, i.e., to deliver the best care to everyone who needs it.
- Similarities Between Physicians And Nurses
Physicians and nurses share many responsibilities and skills. Both often specialize in a particular aspect of healthcare delivery and need licensure to operate in the field officially. Similarly, they share a desire to create the best and greatest outcome for every patient in their care and display a remarkable work ethic.
- Licensure of Nurses and Physicians
To qualify for both careers, you need to complete an advanced degree and professional licensure. The licensure criteria may differ based on your location of residence.
- Specializations for Physicians and Nurses
Physicians and nurses can specialize according to their choice, with their field of study or preferred patient demographic. For instance, some specializations are geriatric and adult health, pediatric health, and mental and psychiatric health.
- Shared Skills of Physicians and Nurses
Physicians and nurses have quick problem-solving skills, leadership skills, organizational skills, and emphatic communication skills. To assist patients in the best way, both physicians and nurses must cultivate similar competencies and skills.
Physicians vs. Nurses: Key Differences
Professionals and students must be aware of the major distinctions between physicians and nurses. Understanding how both of these careers coexist is the key to planning time commitments and long-term goals. It is also important to make the right decision as to which profession better suits you.
While many duties of both physicians and nurses overlap, some roles differ in terms of scope and flexibility. For instance, a nurse may often need to be present if the patient requires immediate care and that too, sooner than a physician. This means that nurses serve as the frontline of defense when it’s about helping patients. Moreover, physicians and nurses differ in the extent of education they need to advance. Some nurses who prefer to pursue further education may get a specialization to deepen their knowledge and become candidates for advancement. Nurses can pursue their educational goals easily while also working because their educational requirements are less extensive than a physician’s. Everything else being equal, this flexibility allows them to advance to a much higher level quite easily and quickly.
Some of the other key differences include:
- Nurses have way more availability than physicians. Thus, patients seeking immediate attention usually benefit from the nurse’s availability to meet their health needs.
- A nurse spends fewer years in postsecondary education getting DNP than a physician in advanced studies. However, this does not make nurses’ education less important to the healthcare field.
- Most physician roles offer greater ongoing educational requirements than nurse’s roles, meaning that nurses spend less time attending lectures and spend more time in facilities or clinics helping others.
- When it comes to prescription authority, physicians must follow certain requirements for prescribing drugs, like quantity limits imposed by insurance companies or pharmacies or electronically prescribing controlled substances. However, the same may also go for nurses.
There are many key differences between physicians and nurses that change their job roles, responsibilities, priorities, and work ethics. So, if physicians set the foundation of healthcare, nurses are always at the forefront of patient care.
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Final Thoughts
Before you decide on becoming a physician or nurse, make sure to consider the above-discussed points so that you can make the right decision and work towards it with commitment and devotion. There are many key differences as well as similarities in both professions.
Thus, for those who wish to take the path to become a nurse, they must complete the advanced nursing curriculum as it is a critical step to lead their way towards a fulfilling career in today’s ever-evolving field of healthcare. Remember, we would never say that one profession is more important than the other as both nurses and physicians must work hand in hand and deliver the best possible patient care.