Dr Nurse will see you now

doi:10.1136/bmj.a1522

Published 9 September 2008, doi:10.1136/bmj.a1522
Cite this as: BMJ 2008;337:a1522

Feature

Medical workforce

Dr Nurse will see you now

Rebecca Coombes, freelance journalist

¹ London

rcoombes@bmj.com

Head to head, doi:10.1136/bmj.39661.707083.59, doi:10.1136/bmj.39661.694572.59

Nurses are increasingly taking on doctors’ roles but,as Rebecca Coombes reports, lack of regulation is making theiracceptance more difficult

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

"Dr Nurse," "Noctor"—just two of many slights used todescribe senior nurses who take on some medical roles or, worsestill, take a job previously carried out by a doctor.

But how far is this paranoia? In secondary care, nurses aredoing endoscopy, minor surgery, and anaesthesia. The UnitedKingdom has between 3000 and 5000 advanced nurse practitioners,including those working at junior doctor level or higher. Thenumber of registered nurse prescribers has grown 27% between2004 and 2007 to over 45 000 nurses.¹

Former prime minister Tony Blair made a direct challenge todoctors by extending prescribing to nurses and pharmacists inthe late 1990s. Health minister Ara Darzi, in his report onthe NHS workforce in July, emphasised the need for increasedinvestment in continuing professional development to allow existingstaff to expand their roles. Health secretary Alan Johnson issaid to be interested in using health . . . [Full text of this article]

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Rapid Responses:

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No replacement for �Core Medical Training�.: Anthony V B Bathula, et al.
bmj.com, 15 Sep 2008 [Full text]
The Doctor -An Endangered Species: Zahir B Mirza
bmj.com, 19 Sep 2008 [Full text]
nurse practicing as doctors: Joanna Sayer
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Who makes the diagnosis?: David M Bowker
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The detrimental effects: David Newby
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Couldn't we just do away with doctors?: Rui Pombal
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Why are we doctors rather than nurses, or viceversa?: Edoardo Cervoni
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Dr Nurse: Richard F Gunstone
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Only one glove, nurse?: David B Peterson
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More training is needed: Yathish K Rangappa
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Patients should know who is providing their treatment: John A Bremner
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Doctors and nurses: care- and patient-oriented!: Reinhold W. Stockbrugger, et al.
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