Why do you need a masters degree to work as a counselor but only an associates to be a nurse?

counselors only talk and listen while nurses dispurse meds, work on body parts, and perform a more critical function in maintaining ones health. so why on earth would you need higher education to do a much simpler job? i want to be a counselor for addictions which pays very little and yet requires far more education while nursing pays far more yet requires very littlle education. this is not a question to knock nurses - the ones i have met and known are very very intelligent and truly know their stuff - i just have a hard time in understanding lower pay for a job which requires apparently more knowledge and college training. being a nurse for me is not an option so don't bother suggesting that.

To deal with people's problems is a whole new world. Every person's mind is different as in Nursing a heart is a heart and its work won't change, taking blood pressure, administering medications is like a routine. Dealing with people's problems is by far more complicated.

It does seem ironic that counselors do require more education that nurses. The best answer I can come up with is that most of nurses' training is hands on, i.e. they are physically taught how to draw blood, check meds, etc. in their associates programs (although some nurses do have bachelors degrees). Counselors' jobs require a lot more comprehensive information. For example, they need to be able to think critically, apply logic and reason (not that nurses don't do this) and also consider many different possibilities and options. Nurses serve very distinct and predictable job functions and are always working under the supervision and instructions of a higher trained doctor. Counselors are the final authority in their profession. Nurses are paid better because they are overwhelmingly in demand and don't even consider their education, consider what they do on a daily basis: put themselves in close contact with sick people who sometimes yell at them or are ungrateful to them all while having to wait on them when they push that trusty button. I personally could never do this, as many people would probably agree. At least most people who see counselors are usually there voluntarily so they are more likely to be cooperative.

Don't worry about the pay/education and all that. If you have your heart set on being a counselor for the right reasons, put your mind to it and do it!