Expanding the Scope of APRN's Does Not Endanger Patients

[JeanettePNP]

http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/expanding-the-scope-of-practice-of-advanced-practice-nurses-does-not-endanger-patients/#more-29797

Excellent article (by a physician) on the Science Based Medicine blog pointing out the fallacies of restricting APRN scope of practice and supporting the ability of APRN's to provide quality patient care.

[PwettyPrincess]

Let's stick to facts please. Pass rate for first time DCC exam takers has varied from 33-70% over the 5 years the exam has been offered, for a mean of 51%. In otherwords, 49% fail. So, in fact, a majority pass. Or, one could be less precise and simply state, the average is about half. I wouldn't quibble with that, but the quoted remark is false.

I don't know why anyone would bother trying to convince an obvious troll that water is wet, but I can correct faulty arithmetic as it leads to incorrect claims. I have taken a few math courses beyond "learnin' to cipher" along the way.

Allopathic medical students have a 97% pass rate on step III. Also, the DCC is based on step III, but in fact is still a watered down version of it.

[Gentleman_nurse, MSN]

^You didn't read my original post. I said that physicians, "know more than NPs." I never said anything about patient care; you are assuming too much. You asked me to give you evidence on how they know more, and I did since they do more school and see more cases during their residencies. In addition, their boards are much more difficult than the boards NPs must take.

True on paper quantitatively, but is years of progressive experience/education or 1 year repeated many times. There is a difference.

[BostonFNP, APRN]

Allopathic medical students have a 97% pass rate on step III. Also the DCC is based on step III, but in fact is still a watered down version of it.[/quote']

So show us the data that demonstrates there is a difference in outcomes between MD/DO and NPs. If the step 3 exam is the standard for entrance to practice, MD/DO outcomes should be far better than that if NPs.

[futureeastcoastNP]

And I guarantee that a large number of physicians would probably fail an ANCC or AANP exam meant for FNPs.

The reality is that these exams are standardized for their populations. They test and tweak, over and over, until they make a test that tests exactly what is taught in medical school. The NP exams do the same to mimic what is taught in NP school. If the DCC became the standard exam for licensing for NPs in the US, after 5-7 years of tweaking both the test and the curriculum, I assure you NPs would also have pass rates in the 90 percent range.

Medical schools prep their students for the USMLE from day 1. Look at pass rates for foreign physicians taking the USMLE - they are similar to that of NPs for the same reason - while they are fabulous physicians, I'm sure, their medical school didn't focus on prepping them for this specific test.

[BlueDevil,DNP, DNP, RN]

I am not going to swing at pitches in the dirt, I suggest the rest of you refuse to do so as well.

The focus here is on the fact that APRNs with unrestricted practice do not endanger patients. The proof is in the pudding. See the seventeen states with unrestricted practice.

AANP - State Practice Environment

"To exist is to change, to change is to mature, to mature is to go on creating oneself endlessly. "

– Henri Bergson