When we go to the doctor’s office we expect to see a nurse practitioner first to check our blood pressure and temperature and to ask us a few basic questions, but we then expect the doctor to come in soon after to give us an official diagnosis and to prescribe us the proper medication. However, because of the threatening shortage of primary care doctors, 28 states are thinking about giving nurse practitioners more power as a solution.These expanded powers would include prescribing narcotics and also practicing without have a doctor looking over their shoulder.
Many doctors aren’t pleased with this idea and feel that the impending shortage doesn’t mean that nurses should have more rights which could possibly endanger patients, reports HealthDay.com. Nurses justify the idea of them having more power by saying that they are just as skilled as doctors at treating and diagnosing patients during office visits and that they also “spend more time with patients, and charge less than doctors,” states HealthDay.com.
What do you think of this idea?
If you are in need of a general practitioner, find one in your area.
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