The New York Times op-ed noted “EARLIER this month, the New York State Legislature passed a bill granting nurse practitioners the right to provide primary care without physician oversight. New York joins 16 other states and the District of Columbia in awarding such autonomy. (Most states still require nurse practitioners to work with physicians under a written practice agreement.) The bill’s authors contend that mandatory collaboration with a physician “no longer serves a clinical purpose” and reduces much-needed access to primary care.”
“Support for such measures has been widespread. Four years ago the Institute of Medicine called for dropping regulations that prevented nurses from practicing ‘to the full extent of their education and training.’ Last year the president of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners argued that the current diversity of health professionals rendered ‘hierarchical, physician-centric structures unnecessary.'”
“Primary care, though often routine, is also about finding the extraordinary in what may appear to be routine. As a doctor recently wrote on Sermo, a physician online community, ‘It’s the ability to differentiate those pale shades of gray in patient care that counts.’ To do so consistently, I believe, requires a doctor’s expertise.”
“So if we want more primary-care providers, let’s have them be doctors. And to attract more of the best and brightest in our medical schools, let’s find a way to increase their pay. There is an essential place for nurse practitioners in medicine, but it is as part of a physician-led team.”
Click here to read the full New York Times op-ed “Nurses Are Not Doctors” by Sandeep Jauharapril.
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Doctor, Did You Wash Your Hands? ™ provides information to consumers on understanding, managing and navigating health care options.
Jonathan M. Metsch, Dr.P.H., is Clinical Professor, Preventive Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai; and Adjunct Professor, Baruch College ( C.U.N.Y.), Rutgers School of Public Health, and Rutgers School of Public Affairs and Administration.
This blog shares general information about understanding and navigating the health care system. For specific medical advice about your own problems, issues and options talk to your personal physician.