Many people want to go into the health profession to help people but then get stuck trying to figure out if they should become a Nurse or a Doctor. You might be wondering, what is the difference between a Nurse and a Doctor?
Nursing and Medical practices are distinctly different professions. They vary at the fundamental level. Nursing can in ways be seen as caring for a patient’s health on the macro level whereas medicine is caring for a patient's disease and illness on a micro-level.
Nursing practices are taught based on Nursing theories. Nursing theories broadly focus on the health of an individual and how to assist patients back to a healthy, functional life. Many times this involves implementing medicine or maintaining surgical procedures initiated by doctors. Doctors, on the other hand, focus on diagnosing and resolving illness through medical and/or surgical interventions.
Why people have a hard time distinguishing one from another is that oftentimes the nurse relays messages from the doctor. This can confuse the patient as they don’t know who is actually making the decision or where the messages are coming from. There are nursing decisions involving the care of the patient, these decisions are made by the nurse. However diagnostic decisions are made by the doctor. It’s a team effort.
So how do you decide which profession is best for you?
Time and Cost
Nurse
Doctor
Overall Career
Nurse
Doctor
Opportunities
Nurse
Doctor
If you in the process of choosing between the two professions, the points above can help point you in the right direction.