[Rehan]

Do you think nurses should be allowed to handle more and more duties that were previously delegated to physicians only in terms of patient care in a hospital?

As the world faces a shortage of doctors and a simultaneous increase in population sizes more and more coutries and states are passing laws which give registered nurses more autonomy and authority to do procedures which ten years ago only physicians were allowed.

Obviously the two professions undertake highly specialized and different training courses for their profession.

So, the question is, with keeping a patient's safety and health as the primary concern, are registered nurses competent and trained well enough to handle the increased responsibilities being put on them in the hospital?

 

[DrVladdy]

I volunteer at a hospital where nurses are given a large chunk of the responsibility for face-to-face patient care. They're actually called "nurse practitioners" and are the first people to assess patients coming into the ER. Doctors make rounds with the patients once they're settled in, and are the ones explaining the diagnosis/treatment.

I think this is fine as long as the nurses are trained and informed towards those increased responsibilities, so that both nurses and doctors still have specialized but complementary roles in a patient's care.

Also, rather than simply transferring the workload from doctors onto nurses, make sure that a balance is achieved, without also compromising the overall responsibility/authority of the physician(s) on duty.

 

[Rehan]

Well said -- I completely agree!

Unless there is a balance in sharing of authority and responsibility I don't believe either side can function to their maximum effectiveness.