An article appeared today in the New York Times as a followup to a bill passed in New York granting nurse practitioners the right to provide primary care without the oversight of a physician. The authors of the bill state "mandatory collaboration with a physician no longer serves a clinical purpose and reduces much-needed access to primary care". The need for more primary care providers is due to the shortage of primary-care physicians, the aging boomer population, and the Affordable Care Act.
Although the president of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners feels that the current "hierarchical, physician-centric structure" is not necessary, many physicians disagree citing that the clinical importance of the physician's expertise is being underestimated and that the cost-effectiveness of nurse practitioners is being over-estimated.
Many physicians also feel that "nurse practitioners are worthy professionals and are absolutely essential to patient care. But they are not doctors."
What are your thoughts on this? Where do nurse practitioners fit into the healthcare hierarchy?
As an aside, Indiana has a program where you can get your med school (and maybe undergrad) paid for if you agree to work in a rural area.
There are actually plenty of programs like that: IHS, NHSC, HPSP etc. How to Pay for Medical School - US News Some states like Texas offer greatly reduced medical school tuition at public universities too.
At any level really. The DNP programs have not added clinical hours.
Maybe, maybe not. Lot's of physicans without bachelors degrees practicing in the USA. Lots more who hold bachelors degrees but do NOT hold doctorates. I work with a number of physicians to do not have MD or DO degrees and only have bachelors degrees.
Since when is a BSN required for NP? Is this something brand new or are you misinformed? I have seen very reputable adult NP programs that were 15 months.
Nurses never have been equivalent to TA's but lets just put that aside and focus on the analogy.
Should TA's prove to be just as good at teaching as the "real" teachers over 50 years and hundreds of studies (produced by other teachers, TAs, and education administrators) but cost less why not give them a shot?
Though it wouldn't ever get to that point had TA's been required to step up or allow countless kids to go without education... Likely after 40-50 years teachers would have proven they deliver a superior product through undeniable evidence.
Well,how would you feel if medical assistants and nurse's aides lobby to be called "nurse"?
We as nurses are having the same argument against medical assistants,EMT's,etc.
Well,how would you feel if medical assistants and nurse's aides lobby to be called "nurse"?
It would be comparable if NPs were lobbying to be called "physicians." If a medical assistant or nurse aid wants to be called "Dr. Name Here" because they have a doctorate degree, then they should get to do so. "Dr." was around long before physicians decided to use it, and LONG before some of them decided ONLY they should get to use it.
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wtbcrna, MSN, DNP, CRNA
5,128 Posts
There are actually plenty of programs like that: IHS, NHSC, HPSP etc. How to Pay for Medical School - US News Some states like Texas offer greatly reduced medical school tuition at public universities too.