Nurses acting like physicians

[Robin Hood]

http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/201...7/prl20307.htm
Seriously, if NPs and RNs want to act like physicians, then what's the difference between Nursing and Medicine, and so, wouldn't it be better to make Nursing a medical speciality?

[MarieJJib]

They don't want to "act like physicians", and I think you really missed the point of the article entirely.
I think many current and future MDs are feeling threatened that society no longer sees them as 'God-like'. These days, many people have taken a pro-active approach to their own health care and do not rely entirely on physicians to make medical decisions for them. We are now realizing that RNs, NPs, midwives, nathropaths etc. are more than qualified to deal with many medical issues without being overseen by an MD. This will allow for quicker access to quality health care.

Why wait 3+ hours in your family docs office just to get a prescription filled for your child's ear infection? You likely already know what med you need. Medications like these (and many other drugs) are something that pharmacists and other health care providers should be able to prescribe.

[Robin Hood]

Originally Posted by MarieJJib

They don't want to "act like physicians", and I think you really missed the point of the article entirely.
I think many current and future MDs are feeling threatened that society no longer sees them as 'God-like'. These days, many people have taken a pro-active approach to their own health care and do not rely entirely on physicians to make medical decisions for them. We are now realizing that RNs, NPs, midwives, nathropaths etc. are more than qualified to deal with many medical issues without being overseen by an MD. This will allow for quicker access to quality health care.

Why wait 3+ hours in your family docs office just to get a prescription filled for your child's ear infection? You likely already know what med you need. Medications like these (and many other drugs) are something that pharmacists and other health care providers should be able to prescribe.

Maybe you think that the condition is simple, but you can't know for sure if it's that simple if you can't diagonize. Many diseases can have common symptoms, that's why diagnostic is important. So if Nurses want to diagonize and prescribe, they should learn about the whole body, and not just get some watered-down medical education. As for pharmacists, they have an interest in selling to med expensive medication, so allowing them to prescribe can cause a conflict of interest, in addition to the fact that they can't do a diagnostic.
As for naturopathy, it's not based on scientific data, so it can't be considered reliable.
Also, if auxiliary nurses start infringing on the nursing profession, the nurses wouldn't be happy, and Nursing will start losing value.

[MarieJJib]

Well you are wrong in assuming that nurses do not learn about the whole body. (In regard to prescribing medication, I am mostly talking about NPs).
For you to call the education watered-down is extremely ignorant and it is for this exact reason that people do not want to see doctors anymore (I'm assuming you are a med student). Patients want a say in their health care, they do not want to be told what to do.

I certainly believe there needs to be a review of the medical system and the current policies in place, but you would be naive to think that expanding the scope of care that health providers other than MDs can provide would be detrimental or non-successful.

[Robin Hood]

Originally Posted by MarieJJib

Well you are wrong in assuming that nurses do not learn about the whole body. (In regard to prescribing medication, I am mostly talking about NPs).
For you to call the education watered-down is extremely ignorant and it is for this exact reason that people do not want to see doctors anymore (I'm assuming you are a med student). Patients want a say in their health care, they do not want to be told what to do.

I certainly believe there needs to be a review of the medical system and the current policies in place, but you would be naive to think that expanding the scope of care that health providers other than MDs can provide would be detrimental or non-successful.

NPs can't work independently, and are considered midlevels. Also, MD spend 2 years of intensive basic science learning, 2 years of intensive clerkship, and 2 to 5 years of intensive residency work, while NPs don't get that much training.

[kpm]

Originally Posted by Robin Hood

NPs can't work independently, and are considered midlevels. Also, MD spend 2 years of intensive basic science learning, 2 years of intensive clerkship, and 2 to 5 years of intensive residency work, while NPs don't get that much training.

I thought that NPs could work independently. They just can't prescribe narcotics. I thought it was PAs who could not work without physicians (MDs).

[Robin Hood]

Originally Posted by kpm

I thought that NPs could work independently. They just can't prescribe narcotics. I thought it was PAs who could not work without physicians (MDs).

Maybe I was wrong, but it seems NPs work according to protocols set up by the place there working in or the physician, I wasn't able to get a clear answer about this.

[A-Stark]

NPs can do a lot of work independently, but this is only true of somewhat limited primary care and chronic care. In the acute care sector, they function similarly to housestaff, albeit on a permanent basis without call (call or no call it still sounds like some version of hell unless you're in love with ward paperwork). At Sunnybrook there are NPs involved in the acute pain service too, so it's not strictly true that they cannot prescribe narcotics (probably varies by province).

[Gaven32]

I agree these days, many people have taken a pro-active strategy to their own healthcare care and do not depend entirely on doctors to make healthcare choices for them. Nursing staff are more than certified to deal with many wellness problems without being supervised by a doctor.

[jerkstore]

Nurses acting like Physicians are the scum of the earth .

I'm definitely in favour of delegating some routine tasks to other professionals. Doctors complain that they work too much and see too many patients, well here's the solution, Jack.