NY post slams NPs

[ryguyRN]

When a nurse is your health-care provider, you’re at risk | New York Post

[BostonFNP, APRN]

I am an RN and I agree completely with the article.

There is obviously no comparison between NP education and training and physician education and training.

Show link to the data that demonstrates that education and training produces better outcomes.

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[guest538567]

I am an RN and I agree completely with the article.

There is obviously no comparison between NP education and training and physician education and training.

I am actually a NP and I don't know of anyone that would reasonably compare MD and NP training. However, this is not to say that nurse practitioners are not prepared to provide primary care services and commonly do so with high quality care. I would always support more rigorous NP education but I think 4 years of medical school and 3 years of residency are likely overkill for most primary care issues.

[IrishIzCPNP, MSN, RN, APRN, NP]

I am an RN and I agree completely with the article.

There is obviously no comparison between NP education and training and physician education and training.

Nobody said they were the same. But...what makes doctors the only ones able to provide care? Because that's what we have been used to for many years? Not a good enough reason. We have no proof that you need the training of an MD to provide safe and effective care.

[guest538567]

Anyone read the study in JAMA from December that suggested reduced mortality rates for high risk heart failure and post cardiac arrest patients during the dates of the two national cardiology conferences? However, I doubt the Post is going to be publish an article suggesting that patients should have fewer cardiology consults.

[AspiringNurseMW]

Wait. NY post... I occasionally read that for entertainment when I lived in Brooklyn , it is NOT a source of legitimate news.

[stickit34]

The educations that physicians and nurse practitioners receive are vastly different, there's no doubt about that. Personally, I believe that nurse practitioners should still work under a physician, but this is my personal opinion. However, if there is truly no difference in care, that should be shown. In order to help clear the air about nurse practitioners and the quality of care they produce, more studies that show long-term benefits should be conducted and highlighted. Otherwise, the public will be easily swayed by articles like these. Just wait until the NY Post gets a whiff of the large amount of completely online and fast-track programs that will be producing future nurse practitioners; Betsy will have a field day.

Also, the American Nurses Association is one of the largest health-care lobbyists in America. I'm sure they've written a fair amount of checks to tip the scale in their favors.

[BostonFNP, APRN]

Also, the American Nurses Association is one of the largest health-care lobbyists in America. I'm sure they've written a fair amount of checks to tip the scale in their favors.

Sent from my iPhone.

[PMFB-RN, RN]

Without providing a shred of evidence the NY Post piece claims that NPs ar eless skilled at diagnosing less common conditions. Not being an NP I really have no idea. What I do know is that the tiny rural town I live near would have no health care provider if it were not for the NP who opened an office there about 6 years ago after old Doc Westfall retired. There was no provider of any kind in our town for several years until the NP opened her office. She has admitting privlages at the local (local being relitive as it is more than a 30 min, in good weather, drive away in the big town of 5K people) critical access hospital.

This particular NP was a local ER RN with vast RN experience before going back to grad school. I don't know if she is better at diagnosing uncommon conditions. What I do know from working casual in the small local hospital ER is that we very rarely see her CHF & COPD patients arriving in acute exacerbation. We never see her diabetic patients in the ER for DKA or HHS, her warfarin patients never arrive with super high INRs. She is locally famous for providing superb care of her chronic patients, especially the older ones and is well known for getting high levels of compliance from the old farmers around here who traditionaly are not very compliant. None of the local physicians who practice out of the hospital have that same reputation.

She is also the ONLY provider who will prescribe a variety of contraceptives. Among the physicians we have some who refuse to prescribe them at all, a few who only prescribe certain ones, and two who will only precribe to married women. We actually send young women in need of such services to the NP, even though her office is not in the same town as the hospital. She also dispences Plan B from her office and is the only source for it within an hours drive (in good weather).

She had been a huge asset to our little rural town and has greatly improved the qualiety of life for those living in this rural area.

_IF _ she is less skilled at diagnosing uncommon conditions her great skill in managing chronic conditions, and simply being available more than makes up for it. However I would have to see some evidence before I believed the assertion made in the NY Post.

[IrishIzCPNP, MSN, RN, APRN, NP]

The educations that physicians and nurse practitioners receive are vastly different, there's no doubt about that. Personally, I believe that nurse practitioners should still work under a physician, but this is my personal opinion. However, if there is truly no difference in care, that should be shown. In order to help clear the air about nurse practitioners and the quality of care they produce, more studies that show long-term benefits should be conducted and highlighted. Otherwise, the public will be easily swayed by articles like these. Just wait until the NY Post gets a whiff of the large amount of completely online and fast-track programs that will be producing future nurse practitioners; Betsy will have a field day.

Also, the American Nurses Association is one of the largest health-care lobbyists in America. I'm sure they've written a fair amount of checks to tip the scale in their favors.

Well there's a recent study showing when specialist MDs are around mortality increased. So...studies are showing doctors are dangerous. Oh and there are studies showing the positive outcomes of NPs. So why must NPs prove themselves when in truth MDs haven't done that? MDs are just what was the norm...doesn't mean it was the best option.

[BostonFNP, APRN]

if there is truly no difference in care, that should be shown.

Shown how? There are dozens of large studies published in the topic and they are all consistent.

Sent from my iPhone.

[nursel56]

Reading this lady's bio and reading her article, I think we can all agree that it's a good thing she's carrying water for the other side, which I define in this case as that faction of people who are simply threatened by the presence of APRNs.

[LibraSunCNM, BSN, MSN, CNM]

The same thing happens to midwives. Studies show consistently that we take better care of healthy, low-risk women than OBs---lower rates of intervention across the board, higher rates of breastfeeding and patient satisfaction. Midwives rigorously adhere to evidence based practice and constantly try to educate the public about what we do for women across the lifespan.

Britain totally gets it, midwives are the norm there, with the OB stepping in only when needed, since they are, after all, specialist surgeons. But here? It's been a constant fight to prove that we're not witch doctors for the last 100 years.

The New York Post is a rag, plain and simple.