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The Rise Of Nursing Profession. by olsamlaw(m): 2:44am On May 20, 2016 |
Medicine has changed dramatically over the
years with new drugs and treatments
revolutionising the way patients are cared for.
With that has come an overhaul in the way staff
work. In particular, the demarcation between
doctors and nurses.
What was once the preserve of doctors -
prescribing drugs, ordering x-rays, referring
patients and diagnosing - is now also done by
many senior nurses who have had extra training.
They go by a variety of titles from nurse
consultants and clinical nurse specialists to nurse
practitioners.
Some specialise in a particular condition -
diabetes or heart disease for example - while
others coordinate care in A&Es and or community
settings.
Go to a walk-in clinic or minor injury unit and the
chances are you'll be seen by a nurse.
Some GPs also use nurse practitioners to ease
their workload by carrying out consultations.
The 'super' nurse
Matt Hodson is a nurse consultant who
specialises in respiratory disease.
He has a masters and doctorate and leads a
team of specialists who provide care in the
community and in hospitals in east London.
Unless a patient has an emergency, they need
never see a doctor - something the public still
does not fully appreciate.
"Before we started, patients either saw their GP or
went to hospital," he said.
"But now we are able to look after their needs -
we can refer, prescribe, give clinical advice.
"If problems flare up we can provide oxygen or a
nebuliser. These are the sort of things
traditionally done in a hospital but there is a lot
nurses can do," added Mr Hodson.
And the evidence suggests it works.
Research by the British Heart Foundation on
heart failure specialist nurses has shown that
they can reduce hospital admissions and
consultant appointments, giving a saving of over
£1,800 per patient.
The charity Parkinson's UK has found that a
specialist nurse saves over £200,000 a year in
avoidable bed days, consultant appointments and
unplanned admissions.
Over the years I have heard nurses describing
themselves as "mini-doctors" or "substitute
doctors" doing the jobs medics once did.
In fact, on wards you can sometimes find
experienced nurses being assertive in discussions
with junior doctors.
Nurses v doctors
There are nearly 330,000 nurses (in terms of
full time equivalents) working in the NHS in
England - with 64,000 working in senior roles.
By comparison there are more than 32,000
GPs and 40,000 consultants.
GP partners (those which run practices) earn
an average of £102,000 a year, while those
that are employed by practices get £56,000.
Pay for senior nurse roles varies greatly, with
salary bands stretching from £31,000 to
£81,000.
All this begs the question: what more could
senior nurses do?
After all, the NHS is facing particular problems
recruiting GPs and A&E doctors in particular,
while the ageing population is putting more and
more demands on services.
It was a point floated by the Royal College of
Nursing this week.
Peter Carter, the union's general secretary, said
senior nurses were a "huge part of the solution"
in the push to create seven-day services as they
could "make decisions, supervise teams and
educate and mentor".
Currently there are about 64,000 nurses employed
in England in senior roles - although it will include
those in managerial position as well as nurse
consultants and the like.
That is only marginally fewer than the 72,000
hospital consultants and GPs that are on the pay
roll.
What do doctors think?
The medical profession has always been reluctant
to relinquish its roles and responsibilities.
Paul Flynn, chair of the British Medical
Association consultants committee, and a
consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist,
believes there is a "limit" to how far you can go
with this.
He says evidence shows those senior nurses
working in general practice, for example, order
more tests and take longer to do consultations.
"It's not always more efficient, what we need is
properly resourced staff across the NHS," he said.
"In hospitals nurse specialists can take on some
of the jobs. For example I will make the diagnosis
and then the nurse will take charge of discussing
treatment options and managing that side.
"It means I can get on and see the next patient.
But you can't simply replace one with another,"
he explained.
It is, of course, a fair point.
But with the nature of health care changing as
medicine advances, and a growing amount of
time devoted to helping people manage their
conditions, there is arguably a growing role for
the expert nurse as a way of making resources
stretch further. |
Re: The Rise Of Nursing Profession. by Nobody: 6:41am On May 20, 2016 |
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CrazyMan ,
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Re: The Rise Of Nursing Profession. by TheArchangel(f): 9:47pm On May 20, 2016 |
Paragraph is a good invention. Use it. |
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