Tuesday 4 March 2008

Bigging up Nurse Practitioners

As an NP, part of me thinks I should be really pleased to receive news like this.
Another part of me makes me think....are we being used as pawns in a larger game?

Although I disagree with much of what Crippen and some of his pals say about NPs; they rarely present a balanced view, preferring rabid hyperbole instead. Some of what they say is food for thought.

NPs cannot manage patient care in isolation, sure a diabetic nurse working in primary care can probably manage a caseload of diabetic patients, but can he/she provide the full package? I would stick my head above the parapet and say no.

At the risk of being flamed by some of my NP colleagues, I propose maintaining the status quo: Nurse Practitioners and GPs working as a team the better to better provide patient care, utilising the strengths of each team member.
The them and us debate, which now appears to be politically led, is damaging our professional relationships. The medical and nursing professions need to move on from this and work collaboratively to defend primay care from 'Grim' Gordon, 'Grinning Al' Johnson and the other numpties stripping our NHS of its' assets.

Together we stand, divided we fall.

What do you think?

2 comments:

Spirit of 1976 said...

I think any clinician (nurse, doctor, physio, whatever) should be working as part of the MDT and not in isolation. That's simple good practice whoever and wherever you are.

I'd be just as worried about a doctor who ignores the input of the nurses as a nurse who doesn't listen to the doctor.

Anonymous said...

As a member of a profession (law, not medicine), I take exception to the term being diluted by nurses. If you come to see me regarding your divorce, I don't fob you off with my secretary, who has picked up a little legal knowledge from typing my letters...