Doctors vs. Nurses: Ultimate Showdown

It’s often claimed that being a doctor is one of the most rewarding careers you can take on. Nursing, on the other hand, is quietly forgotten as a job that is still quite good but not exactly on the same level. Is this true? To find out let’s compare the two jobs and figure out which really has the upper hand.

Pay

If you’re interesting in making money, you should become a doctor. They make nearly four times as much as the average nurse. Nurses can still rise to high levels of salary, and they can do it in a shorter amount of time. But they’ll never reach the absurd levels of income doctors get.

Patients

Doctors will spend, on average around sixteen minutes, with each patient they see. If you’re thinking sixteen minutes isn’t enough time to form any type of connection you’re absolutely right. Nurses on the other hand may spend an entire day with just one patient. This means they often form attachments and connect on a personal level.

Rewarding?

One would argue that both are rewarding career paths. Both involving helping people and both play pivotal roles in saving lives. However, if you’re looking at a reward, you need to consider who gets the most respect. That is almost always the doctor, even though patients do spend more time with nurses.

Health

Doctors have some of the highest depression and suicide rates of any industry. Nurses do not share this statistic for one important reason. They have less responsibility in their hands. As such, nurses will, generally speaking, experience less stress in their career compared to a doctor.