The nursing profession's coming of age: Contribution of “maxi” nurses is exaggerated
BMJ 2006; 332 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.332.7532.51-b (Published 05 January 2006) Cite this as: BMJ 2006;332:51All rapid responses
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i don;t know what is the debate about.i as a doctor believe that both
nurses and doctors have thier own duties and both have thier limitations
for example nurse can;t prescribe, can;t issue death certificate, junior
doctor can;t do section only senior doctor can do.sometimes junior doctors
even can;t make full assessment of patient they have to seek guidance
from senior colleagues.it is a team work everybody from consultant to ward
sweeper playing it;s role so let it be like this it is the only way we can
provide standard care to our patients.
Competing interests:
iam a doctor
Competing interests: No competing interests
So Dr. Duncan believes that Young has 'an exaggerated notion' of her
own worth - clearly a character flaw that Dr. Duncan does not share.
Duncan also comments on the number of patients that Young sees whilst
admitting that she herself merely 'assesses' patients - albeit in
allegedly greater numbers.
Might one point out, that the Nurse Practitioner not only assesses
her patient, but more often than not, initiates, plans,carries out and
follows up that care - which may explain why Dr.Duncan can 'assess' such
large numbers of patients...somewhere a junior colleague is taking the
history, filling in the investigation forms,taking the specimens,chasing
up results, doing the dressings and holding the patient's hand as
necessary. Allowing Dr. Duncan to do the really clever stuff.
Nurse Practitioners not only know their limitations but will admit
they exist: to ourselves, our patients and our medical colleagues. We have
been in the job long enough to know that pride comes before a fall -
something the medical profession is finding hard to come to terms with
following their rather disheartening decade of public scandals.
To all doctors who fear the emerging role of the Advanced Nurse
Practitioner I say fear not: there is more than enough human
misery,pain,death & disease for us all to share.
Competing interests:
Advanced Nurse Practitioner: Harlow Walk in Centre
Competing interests: No competing interests
To assess a patient
I must apologise to Ms Gough for misleading her. In my specialty
which is 90% outpatients and in which we have few juniors to "assess"
means a full history, examination and all the form filling as most of us
operate alone in outpatients. Having seen my 16 or 17 new patients in a
day or my 16 follow ups in one of the 5 clinics I do per week I then spend
up wards of an hour telling the "maxi" nurse what she should do with the
patients she has "assessed" - Ms Gough is right I have nothing to fear
from nurse practitioners
Competing interests:
registered medical practitioner
Competing interests: No competing interests