RN vs. MD: What's the real difference?

I was wondering—just out of curiosity—what the typical salary looks like for a registered nurse versus a general practitioner? Since their years of schooling are essentially the same...

What are you even talking about? A registered nurse? Don't be ridiculous—you can't seriously compare a doctor to an RN

And since when do nurses pull six years of school, plus a year of residency, plus another four for a specialty... yeah—that’s all just what doctors do, apparently

Hannah Johnson74 said:What on earth are you talking about? A registered nurse? Don't be ridiculous—you absolutely cannot compare a medical doctor to an RN.

Honestly, where is all this insecurity coming from? I was simply asking what their salary ranges look like. 😂

I will be closing this thread shortly if the author fails to provide a proper clarification. He claimed in his opening post that the training duration is identical, which is a blatant falsehood... It's actually about half as long, to be blunt. Without trying to sound elitist, any nursing student who passes their exams—provided they've consistently attended lectures and clinical labs—can generally secure a passing grade on the exact same subject at a university medical program.

silverpuma542 said:Complexes? Please—the guy was just asking what their salaries look like. 😂

Nah, he’s just straight-up clueless.😲

Honestly, this whole thing was probably just bait anyway...🤣🤣

Sam Hall15 said:I’m honestly about to lock this thread if the OP doesn't set the record straight, because they dropped a total lie in their opening post claiming the training time is basically equal... let's be real, it's actually half that... and I don't even want to get into the weeds here because I don't want to sound like a snob, but any nursing student who fails an exam can usually just retake it and get a passing grade at a nursing college, provided they actually showed up to all their lectures and labs.

That's pretty much the reality of it... though, I'd say it's true because those pre-clinical and clinical med subjects you're thinking of—you know, things like surgery, internal medicine, pediatrics, anatomy, patho, pharmacology—which are the heavy hitters for med students aren't actually the core focus or the heart of what nursing studies are all about. You really have to make that distinction.
See, even though everything looks almost identical on the surface and it's hard to draw a line, nursing isn't clinical medicine in the way doctors practice it; it's patient care. So, for instance, a nursing student might not actually need to master internal medicine at the exact same level as a medical student... but when it comes to a course like "Care for Patients with Internal Medicine Conditions" (which blends clinical elements with specific nursing skills), they seriously need to know their stuff inside and out.
It's a whole different story in America, though, where the nursing profession hasn't been clearly defined in the public eye, so people often just view nurses as assistants to doctors... but that's a conversation for another day.

Hannah Johnson74 said:Man, what are you even talking about? Calling someone a registered nurse is a stretch—don't be ridiculous, you can't just lump a doctor in with an RN.

That's pretty much the reality... though I guess it just comes down to everyone having their own specific lane and scope of practice...

Scott Allen10 said:That’s true... but only because everyone has their own specific scope of work.

Yeah, it just seems like someone—we can probably guess who—is pulling more weight than the rest.

A friend of mine is a registered nurse, having completed a five-year program—three years for her bachelor’s followed by two for her master's. Right now, she's just pulling her residency hours, so she's only bringing in $1167, though I haven't the slightest clue what her actual salary trajectory looks like once she's fully settled.

Paul Moore16 said:I was wondering about the pay gap between an RN and a GP... since they both put in roughly the same amount of time in school..

Well, the schooling actually isn't equal like people think... medical school takes you through six years, whereas nursing is usually a three-year bachelor's degree, though you can tack on another two if you want to specialize.

When it comes to looking at salaries, it's easiest to just look at how the federal pay scales work. For nurses, the coefficients generally hover between 0.90 and 1.20—that first number is more for your standard ADN holders, while the higher end goes to those with a BSN. Depending on where you're working, you might see some extra stipends added to that base.
And that's pretty much the deal for the nursing side.

Doctors, on the other hand, start their scale at around 1.60 for residents, jump up past 2.04 for specialists, and can even hit 2.5 if you're one of those big-shot department heads or professors... plus they get their own specific location bonuses too.

It’s pretty obvious that the pay range for nurses is super narrow (just 0.90 to 1.2), so basically everyone in the profession gets squeezed into that same tight bracket regardless of their actual credentials.
Doctors have way more breathing room to move up the ladder within their pay structure.

The whole system is definitely far from perfect, but honestly, that's just how things stand right now.

Paul Gonzalez54 said:Yeah, it’s always just someone—you know exactly who I mean—pulling way more weight than everyone else...

I mean, honestly, it varies so much depending on where you go; I've seen hospital wards where doctors are grinding themselves into the dirt working insane hours while the nurses basically just coast through, but then you'll run into the exact opposite situation where the nurses are running around like crazy just trying to find a second to hit the restroom because the doctor is nowhere to be found, probably dodging calls or whatever... so yeah, I think everyone has a story like this if they look hard enough.

Just don't forget who actually holds the bag and carries the responsibility here...
When medical malpractice happens, who's the one everyone points their finger at?

In my hospital, an RN has a multiplier of 3.2 and pulls in about $1400
while a GP has a 3.5 multiplier and makes roughly $1533

That’s before any benefits kick in, and honestly, that gap is pathetic

I see it firsthand at work... they spend half their shift messing around, just counting down the minutes until they can clock out.

As a director, my multiplier is 4.5 😁

Comparing who "does more" is honestly kind of ridiculous.
I mean, a nurse isn't supposed to examine a patient, deliver a diagnosis, prescribe medication, or perform surgery—that’s simply not their job, nor are they trained for it.
It's just like how a gynecologist wouldn't be treating a neurology patient; nobody would ever think to compare those two roles, even though a gynecologist is a physician while a nurse holds a different designation.
Trying to weigh them against each other is like comparing apples to oranges; it’s total nonsense.

mellowraven32 said:Just don't forget who's actually running the show and holding all the cards here...
When things go south during medical treatment, it's always the doctor they come looking for and point the finger at...

In my neck of the woods, an RN has a multiplier of 3.2 and pulls in somewhere around $1400
while a GP has a 3.5 multiplier and makes about $1533

And that’s before any overtime or bonuses kick in—honestly, the pay gap is just embarrassing.

I see it firsthand at my clinic every day... everyone is basically just messing around and counting down the minutes until they can clock out and head home.

As a director, my multiplier sits at 4.5 😁

😁....like I was saying, there's definitely some weirdness going on with the math here....
Look, there's no arguing that the physician is the one in charge; that's a given. And yeah, if something goes sideways, the doctor is the one who ends up getting grilled in court, which honestly makes sense since they're the ones calling the shots. It feels like nurses are still treated as this "undefined" group when it comes to accountability—at least from what I've seen—but that's got to change eventually because those lines of responsibility and expertise really need to be clearly drawn out...
....and man... something is seriously off with those multipliers you mentioned, because I have no clue how someone could pull a salary of $1333?...😕...if they're working off a base of over 5 $0.00 times their multiplier...and which nurse is pulling a 3.2? Maybe an Assistant Director of Nursing, but even then, that seems way too high for me...give me some more specifics here...🙂

Scott Allen10 said:😁....like I said, there's some kind of situation going on somewhere....
There's no debate here—the doctor is the one running the show. It's true they might end up taking the fall in court if things go south, but that actually makes sense if they're the ones in charge. Nurses still seem to be viewed as this undefined group when it comes to actual liability (at least from what I can tell), but that won't last forever... boundaries regarding competence and responsibility really need to be clearly drawn out...
....and yeah.... something about those coefficients you mentioned doesn't sit right with me. I have no idea how someone with a base salary of over $5 $0.00 multiplied by a coefficient could end up with a paycheck of $1333?...😕...and which nurse is pulling a 3.2 coefficient? Maybe an Assistant Director of Nursing, but even that feels way too high....give me some more specifics....🙂

Look at the state of the country 😁

That's why I was trying to figure out the approximate amount in dollars
The system here uses different coefficients, starting at 1.0 for custodial staff and going up to 4.5 for sub-specialists or directors. The base pay is roughly 218 miles ($467)

mellowraven32 said:Just look at how things work in this country 😁

That’s actually why I was trying to crunch the numbers and figure out what that would look like in US dollars
The pay scale system here is a bit different; they use these multipliers that kick off at 1.0 for general practitioners and go all the way up to 4.5 once you hit specialist or director levels. The base salary sits somewhere around 218 miles ($467)

😁....man, the USA.....looks like nothing has changed over there....😁.....but hey, listen, it's still organized in a weird hierarchy... like, your nurse (who I think does a four-year program back in the States) could be sitting at the top of the "nursing pyramid" with a 3.2 multiplier and still hit a ceiling... meanwhile, your GP (who is basically at the bottom of the "doctor pyramid") starts out with an even higher salary right out of the gate (which, honestly, makes sense if you ask me)...

Scott Allen10 said:😁....yeah, the USA.....looks like nothing's changed for me either.....😁.....

Well, I just got carried away :P

I agree regarding the workload; it really depends on the specific department. Within a hospital, some units are night and day compared to others in terms of the pace for both doctors and nurses. While there's naturally some variation among physicians, those gaps should ideally be smaller since everyone stays busy. It really comes down to individual commitment. For instance, a nurse in ophthalmology or ENT might find themselves with very little to do for their patients, whereas an NFL nurse likely handles more in a single shift than those departments see in an entire year. 😁 This is where I would suggest adjusting nursing salaries—not just based on education level, but also based on the intensity of the work environment.

Is it actually true that nurses should be aiming for those higher nursing degrees—like an Associate's or even a Bachelor's later on—because once we’re fully integrated into the standard American healthcare system, anyone coming in with just a high school diploma might get stuck doing basic caregiver work instead?
The idea is that if you want to actually do the nursing job as we know it today, that role might belong strictly to people with those higher degrees... you know, that step up from high school in the medical field.