How do I become an Advanced-Practice Nurse?

Why does everyone encourage me to become a physician rather than an registered nurse...?

• Many have stated if you have the drive and work ethic, become a physician. My professors, parents, and fellow peers have stated that their are much advantages to becoming a physician than a nurse. Many of them have discouraged me of becoming a nurse. Tell you the truth, I want to be a physician, but why are so many people discouraging me to become a RN? The other day, while volunteering at a hospital. Most of the workers (Physicians, Nurses, Security, Aides, and even JANITORS) have advised me to become a doctor than a nurse. One nurse even stated "If your going to enter medicine, become a physician, nothing else!" The nurse who advised this to me has been working in the field for 36 years. Why would she say this? They also told me "don't listen to the nurses who always dwell about it being a caring job because truthfully NOBODY CARES, they just say it to avoid any scrutiny with society" Hopefully someone will answer honestly and not rant about how great of a field nursing is because everyone in the hospital seems to discourage me into not going into that field.

• Answer:

  Depends on why you want to become a nurse or physician. I am currently going to school for nursing. And I have talked to a lot of different nurses (my aunt and a friends mother of mine, my teachers) and they say that they like their field. Now, true there is more money and power in becoming a physician, however there are more problems. When things go wrong (and at some point they will go wrong) its the physicians fault. They are the ones that have to pay the extremely high insurance bills. They are the ones that get sued. Also residency is hard on a lot of doctors. There are many cases where the resident gets hooked on drugs just to stay awake. But you need to do what you want to do. If you want to be a physician that great. Do everything to pursue your dream. If you want to be a nurse then do that. Don't let ANYONE tell you what to do. Because you are going to be the one to live that life. You are the one that has to go to school and do whatever else that need to do. I plan on becoming a Nurse anesthetist. They make really good money. On the low end they make a $100,000, median 150,000 and high 200,000.