Posted by wendy b. on January 5, 2003, at 20:13:04
In reply to Re: background checks and nurses » Dr. Bob, posted by johnj on January 5, 2003, at 16:23:36
> Thanks Dr. Bob
>
> Nurses dispensing advice and medications? That is a shocker for me. I have not even had a nurse in the room when I am with my pdoc(10 yrs+). Where I am from in the States, when a call is made, the nurses will only advise you on over the counter meds, and sometimes they won't even go that far for fear of liability, but that is a whole new subject.JohnJ:
On the subject of nurses: maybe you haven't kept up with the nursing profession, but licensed Nurse Practitioners (NPs) can write prescriptions, and have been doing so for many, many years. Most general practitioners or family medicine-type offices have not only doctors, physician assistants, and practical nurses, but also nurse practitioners.
In busy medical offices, they are a godsend, because you don't have to wait to see an MD for your upper-respiratory infection, your boil, your herpes, your pap smear, your urinary tract infection, your birth-control pills, etc. The NPs can diagnose and treat these, and they are generally VERY good at their jobs - at least the ones I see regularly. This office is made up of about 5 doctors, all great clinicians, 4 or 5 NPs, and quite a few LPNs.
I like seeing the NPs for problems of a female nature, since at this practice, they're all women, and for some things, it's just more comfortable for me. I believe many other women feel this way. They other part is that they're just plain nice, and I bet if a study were done, they'd find NPs spend more time with patients than doctors do (maybe because their time is valued less on the open market than MDs' ?).
Also, my pdoc and therapist used to be a "one-stop-shopping" affair, since my therapist was a nurse practitioner specializing in psychiatry.
I doubt if there is any more liability insurance problem for them than there is with any other licensed professional.
Anyway, welcome to the wave of the future, it's already here!
best,
Wendy
poster:wendy b.
thread:8731
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/admin/20021128/msgs/8735.html