Comparing Nurses and Doctors - Essay Example

The education needed to qualify as a doctor or a nurse varies across countries, and even in some cases, there are variations within individual countries. A graduate degree in nursing in most countries is recommended to qualify as a nurse. This is the educational qualification that is only required. But in other countries, a degree in nursing is not enough for one to be approved as a nurse. For instance, in Canada and the United States, there has been an increase in the educational requirement for one to qualify as a nurse, with a master’s degree becoming now a norm (OECD). But for the case of doctors, some countries require additional work experience for one to qualify or be approved as a doctor. Countries in sub-Saharan Africa have low education qualifications for one to become a doctor as compared to other developed countries, whereby a master’s degree and work experience are factors considered before one is approved as a doctor.

Salary

Remuneration levels are among the critical factors affecting the performance and attractiveness of the various professions in different countries. There are substantial differences across various countries in the level of compensation for doctors and nurses. For instance, the average salary of doctors and nurses is the lowest in Eastern European countries such as Turkey and Mexico and highest in Luxembourg. The range in the salaries across most countries is highest for the doctors, where the difference between the highest and lowest paying country is almost sixfold. The nurses and doctors in Hungary are paid the lowest salary as compared to other countries.  In all the countries, doctors earn the highest salary as compared to nurses (OECD). This may be a result of the difference in the needed skills and the time required to train.

Job Responsibility

In many countries such as Australia, the UK, the USA, and Canada, nurses are allowed to prescribe pharmaceutical drugs.  But in other countries such as Finland, nurses are not authorized to make drug prescriptions. The first country to allow nurses to prescribe drugs was the USA in the early 1970s, followed by the UK in the 1990s; this norm has progressively been extended gradually to other countries. But still, some countries do not allow nurses to make drug prescriptions for patients.

The primary role of the doctor is the diagnosis of the diseases in the patients. Across the countries, this role has not been changed for the doctors, although, in some countries, doctors do daycare services for the patients, especially in developing and less developed countries. This is a result of a shortage of nurses and doctors in these regions.

Conclusion

The shortage of doctors and nurses in different countries has caused some changes in these two professions. For instance, the education requirement for one to be authorized as either a nurse or a doctor differs because, in countries where there is an adverse shortage of nurses and doctors, the education level required to be approved for these two professions is low. The job responsibilities have changed across countries, depending on the number of doctors and nurses the country has. In countries with an acute shortage of doctors, nurses are forced to act as doctors and vice versa. The educational requirements needed to become either a doctor or a nurse are higher in developed countries and lower in developing countries. The remuneration level for doctors in most countries is higher than that of nurses due to differences in education, and skills required (OECD).