The Fine Line Between the Roles of Doctors and Nurses
With the overflow of nurses all over the world, one must be attuned with the latest upgrade in the profession to have the competitive edge. Nurses are indeed evolving nowadays, moving forward from a doctor’s aid to an independent nurse practitioner. Get to know the different core competencies a nurse can have in different countries.
Nurses in Ireland have started prescribing medications to their patients. Surprisingly, patients seem to respond well with this new responsibility that nurses carry. In fact, according to a survey conducted in University College Cork, patients are complying much better with the nurse prescriber. To be a nurse prescriber, one must undergo a comprehensive 6-month course and must adhere to the standards of prescription and core competencies for prescribing.
In America, nurses can also prescribe medications and diagnose diseases in their very own clinic! To be a nurse practitioner in US, one must hold a bachelor’s degree and a license. After which, a master’s degree will be taken with nurse practitioner units and specific area of specialization. To give you a clear insight, a nurse practitioner has a broad range of healthcare responsibilities which include taking medical history, conducting physical exams, ordering laboratory tests and procedures, diagnosing, treating and managing diseases, providing prescriptions, and performing certain procedures such as bone marrow biopsy and lumbar puncture.
Furthermore, nurses can be upgraded to a much higher position through the Doctor of Nursing Practice program, which is an exclusive online degree. This is good news for nurses who have a very busy schedule, now they can earn CEU at the very comfort of their homes, on their preferred time. Apparently, there are 153 schools all over the US who offer this kind of program. This is a 42 credit hours online course over a three-year period.
Meanwhile in the Philippines, the Philippine Heart Center holds its Cardiovascular Nurse Practitioner Program. However, this is not similar to the nurse practitioners in the US. This will only help and guide the nurse to develop higher level of competencies necessary for decision making and to become nurse clinicians. To be CVNP, one must have at least 12 units earned in master’s degree (MAN), have BLS and ACLS certification and at least 3 years of experience as a medical surgical nurse.
Nurses have truly transformed and have become very competitive. The advancements in their responsibilities and duties have now created a very fine line between the roles and responsibilities of doctors and nurses. We can never tell what the future holds, but who knows, we might not be needing doctors anymore in the future.
