Difference Between Doctor and Nurse

There are several reasons why a doctor is different from a nurse. The main difference lies in the degree. A doctor has an undergraduate or medical degree. In addition, a doctor can also be a DO. DO stands for osteopathic medicine. Rather, the nurse has a bachelor’s degree in nursing. A nurse could also have a degree in another field and could later receive nursing training in a master’s program. In the case of medicine, there are no such twists and turns. You need an MBBS degree to be called a doctor.

Who is the doctor?

A doctor is the one who can prescribe and give orders, he has complete control over his patient. He observes, examines and treats the patient, assuming full responsibility for his patient. There are also more graduate degrees and a doctor could specialize in various fields such as orthopedics, gynecology, pediatrics, dermatology, general surgery, and much more. You could become a surgeon or you could become an MD and practice medicine. In medicine, again there are various fields like chest medicine, abdominal medicine and many more. Physicians make more important decisions in a hospital, deciding on further management plans for a patient and also on follow-ups.

Who is the nurse?

Speaking of nurses, they might as well have a master’s degree. Doctors sued to prescribe medicine but now the trend is changing even nurses are writing prescriptions for patients but these are well trained and advanced practice nurses. Nurses are known to be members of a doctor in a hospital, doctors really can’t go on without them. They are a great helping hand. They have thresholds. Injecting medications, inserting a catheter, maintaining IVs, taking vital signs, maintaining I/O charts, checking patient files, monitoring follow-up orders given by your doctor, they handle it all very easily.

1. The physical appearance of a doctor is different from that of a nurse. A doctor can wear scrubs, the nurse can’t.
2. Doctors can prescribe medication, the nurse cannot.
3. A nurse is supposed to control the follow-up orders given by the doctor.
4. A nurse is supposed to keep patient records in check and balance.
5. Doctors don’t measure patients’ vital signs, it’s a nurse’s job to do it every day.
6. Doctors (surgeons) operate, a nurse does not.
7. Doctors could invent a provisional diagnosis, a nurse could not.