Are Nurse Practitioners good enough? From the comment file:
I've just found your blog courtesy of other great blogs. I read about nurses and NPs since I'm an NP. I went to a top ranked ivy league nursing school. You know what? I had to agree with your comments. My training as an NP was inadequate for me to practice safely independently, let alone in a supervised setting. I graduated near the top of my class, great grades etc. I realized as I went through the program that I was being spoon fed "medicine ultra lite." I have chosen to do this to myself, I continued to tell myself. Now I am 9 years out of my training. I wish there had been some kind of residency/internship for NPs. I wish there was a doctor who really was interested in supervising/training me. I wish a lot of things, but nothing can take back those years. I work very hard to educate myself so that I can be safe, to know what I do not know.
NP, it's nice to hear a breath of fresh air from someone who can admit to themselves that what they are being asked to do and what they were trained to do are are not congruent. The human body does not live in a bubble. You are being asked to perform tasks that you were not prepared for, even at the most prestigious of institutions.
Now you say
I wish there had been some kind of residency/internship for NPs
It's called medical school/medical level residency. But I admire your integrity for acknowledging the deficits in your training, despite a decade of experience. Especially when everyone was telling you that
Gosh darn it, you are good enough.
when you know your training tells you otherwise.
HH, I thought this would make you happier...
ReplyDeletehttp://www.human-resources-health.com/content/7/1/34
That means nothing. No descrption of what a "clinical officer" even is. No breakdown of types of pregnancies handled. No description of the different educations and how they compare to each other, and this study was conducted in sub-saharan africa with vast differences between clinics. Does the OB practice in a clinic with the same equipment and resources as the OB? I think likely not.
ReplyDeleteCan a CNM handle EVERY pregnancy? No, not even here in the US. They handle routine pregnancies, and can even manage pregnancies with a limited number of mild complications. But when the pregnancy becomes difficult, or complicated, an OB/GYN physician is required.
That study is about as useful from what the link showed as my roll of charmin.
Ooops, I meant "does the "clinical officer" practice in the same clinical setting as the OB?"
ReplyDeleteCouple of 21 year old MacCallans, and my typing goes all to cr*p...
I agree with physasst. What the hell was that link supposed to prove Chris? If you want to argue the effectiveness of CNM's vs. FP's or OB's for low risk pregnancies and outcome data, have at it.
ReplyDelete