Soomin Kim
Healthcare’s role in society
Healthcare holds a vital role in society that helps our community maintain physical health and mental well-being. This demonstrates the significance of the two main contributors – Doctors and Nurses – working together for healthcare systems to fully operate. Although the guarantee of high-quality care for patients requires both contributors’ efforts, unfortunately, there are disparities between these professions in various aspects. This essay will identify the disparities between them and suggest possible solutions to close the gap.
Disparities between nurses and doctors
Starting with educational requirements, nurses and doctors have their differences including work hours, wages, and hospital responsibilities. While the journey of becoming a doctor is long and their pay is higher than those of a nurse, can that be a justifiable reason for nurses to face unfair treatment? Does the fact that nurses don’t have as many strict requirements as when becoming doctors support the belief that nurses are inferior?
According to an online survey that examined patients’ preferences on who they would like to lead the medical team, 88% of participants preferred only licensed medical doctors – MDs or DOs – (AMA). Such distrust towards nurse practitioners stems from their differences in training hours and other factors as previously stated. Likewise, a study evaluated disparities in research activities between doctors and nurses in Peru (PLOS). The researchers were able to deduce that one’s sex or age can be factors that influence their opportunity to be involved in research, and as nurses and doctors mainly consist of women and men, respectively, this may be the fundamental reason resulting in the disparity of research activity between the two. Along with being given fewer research opportunities, a study from the American Nurse Foundation claimed that 80% of nurses felt they were being undervalued and more than half of them felt burnt out (Advisory).
Problem that arises and its social effects
Due to such unpleasantness toward nurses, it is natural for them to feel discouraged or less prideful about their hard work and sacrifice. Naturally, social issues such as the nursing shortage have been currently active. In comparison, other countries such as Malaysia have also failed to meet their requirements for recruiting nursing positions and its nursing shortages were reported to range between 35% to 61% (MalaysiaNow). These demonstrate the severity of the situation and how they can affect healthcare systems all over the world. In summary, as current nurses’ shifts increase due to a lack of manpower with little to no compensation for the rise in their workload, nurses tend to quit, which worsens shortage.
Indeed, the shortage can cause other social issues as s a chain reaction. An article reported that a child named Mila was discharged from the hospital after suffering from lung infection (disabilityscoop). While Mila required the assistance of a home nurse, due to the nursing shortage, her parents were unable to find one and Mila was obligated to stay in the hospital for a longer time period. The article also claimed that California Health Report is aware that home nurses have been resigning for jobs with higher pays or benefits. Along with lack of home-care for patients, nursing homes are also short-staffed, which lead to preventable medical errors and higher mortality rates.
The next step
While many suggest higher pay and benefits as a way to address this situation, Forbes views otherwise. Its article emphasized the necessity of much innovative solutions such as implementing systems and evidence-based interventions that advance health equity and promote nurses’ well-being (Forbes). Along with such strategy, it is important for every individual in this society as potential patients to acknowledge their hardships and sacrifice. While treating nurses with more respect may not be the fundamental solution, it is the first-step that anyone in society can partake in that may eventually lead to positive progress on this social phenomenon.
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