I read a worrying story recently. A child who was symptomatic of meningitis appears to have been refused admission to a paediatric unit because she was seen by a Nurse Practitioner and not a GP. More worryingly when she was seen by a GP, he appears to have missed the symptoms and she did not receive treatment until the following day.
As an NP I find it reasonably easy to admit to our local hospital and refer to clinics. I am aware that some of my colleagues have some difficulty in referring their patients to secondary care and this needs to be addressed. Hopefully some good will come out of the investigations into this particular case and there will be improved access to services for patients.
I do find the premise that only doctor's can diagnose illness a little dated, and in this case, a little flawed.
11 comments:
It happens here as well. I have to send my patients to the ER and hope that they are smart enough to pick up the real problem.
A sad commentary for the state of health care for sure. This story describes the quintessential pompus arrogance that medicne has had towards nursing for decades and it needs to stop. After working in an ER setting for many years now and working with advanced practice nurses I wish I could say this is the first time I have heard and seen this type of turf war nonsense take place, but I can't.
I agree - when obvious diagnoses are made, it is just typical that the beaurocracy of public sector kicks in.
Very similar things on our side as well mind.
It is a hard spot to be in. It leaves you divided and constantly asking "what if" as each situation passes by. nurses have the most strength and deserve to get more credibility.
I haven't ever had any problems admitting a patient to hospital, but have across plenty that do - putting patients at unecessary risk. In this situation I would hate to be the one refusing admission based on a title rather than clinical assessment findings, especially if it went pear shaped
you might want to try and get a different link to the story. because it isn't showing up in Firefox at all though the rest of the page for the link seems to show perfectly fine. i do agree with you that nurse practitioners can diagnose just as well as doctors. it's sad to hear how so many places refuse to acknowledge that dr's aren't the only ones who can diagnose. just because the schooling doesn't take as long is no reason to discount one as not being able to do their job. sorry for rambling but i do enjoy your blog even if i'm usually just lurking
Hello,
My name is Richard Hemby and I am administrator of an online education site called www.dnpprograms.org – a great resource for those seeking doctorate programs in nursing. Apart from the main feature of this site, we also maintain a blog site that talks about the interesting and always evolving work of nurses. It aims to promote understanding among registered nurses and the direct community it interacts with. It’s a fun-filled place packed with information about this noble profession.
Remember that 25 Random Things About Me fad that went viral on Facebook? Well, we have created our own version, sort of. We recently posted an article entitled 25 Things You May Not Know About What Nurses Know. It’s an interesting read that puts nurses in a new light, like having to juggle the roles of being a CEO, customer service manager, crisis coordinator and medical professional all rolled in one. Intrigued? Here is the link to the article:
http://dnpprograms.org/25-things-you-may-not-know-about-what-nurses-know/
We would like to know if you can do us the favor of putting this article on your site. I think that your readers will definitely agree and may even be surprised with the information they can gather from this. Should you have any question, feel free to me email me at Richard.hemby24@gmail.com.
Hope to hear from you soon.
Thanks,
Richard
Hi, I could not find your email in the site, so I’m leaving this comment instead.
I would like to invite you to check this link:
href="http://dnpprograms.org/top-resources-for-geriatrics-nurses/
It contains the resources I came up from my research about Geriatric Nursing.
Please do check it out, and hopefully you can share my link with the rest of your readers. Thanks!
"I do find the premise that only doctor's can diagnose illness a little dated, and in this case, a little flawed."
I agree. Nurses can also diagnose illness and at some point even could diagnose faster and more accurate than doctors did. :)
Take care,
Peny@nursing uniforms
Yes, it usually happened in every hospital, clinics. We all agree that only Doctor knows the Best and worst of the illness.
Hi, Nice blog! Would you please consider an intro to my website on your next post, I’ll return the favor. Please email me back. Thanks!
Aaron Grey
aarongrey112 at gmail.com
Insurance blog
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