Doctor Nurse or Doctor Doctor

>
By  |  October 2, 2011 | 

In New York State, the issue of scope of practice is at the fore.  Mainly, what activities can non-physicians (NP’s) engage in, with or without physician supervision?  It is a heated subject here where I reside, but not the one I will address below.

Today’s New York Times discusses a similar matter, although altogether more controversial.  Many of you are aware nurses are obtaining doctorate degrees and advancing their training.  The divisive issue is how those with newly minted degrees should present themselves to the community, and secondarily, their pay, delay of entry into the workforce and its effect on patient access, and the necessity of this added qualification.

“Hi. I’m Dr. Patti McCarver, and I’m your nurse,” she said. And with that, Dr. McCarver stuck a scope in Ms. Cassidy’s ear, noticed a buildup of fluid and prescribed an allergy medicine.

The public may label physicians as biased if we condemn this ascertainment; we are a guild, a monopoly, protective of our turf and salaries.  All potentially correct.

I am accepting and very tolerant of midlevel collaboration, very much so in fact.  Over the years, I am consistently impressed with the level of quality and commitment these folks demonstrate.  They deserve accolades and remuneration for their endeavors, and I see a vital future for them.  The health system needs them, and I want them beside me.  I am a huge booster as those who I work with can attest.

Why then does this issue, and articles like this rankle me?

I contemplated, and the answer arose quickly.  It is in the title Doctor, and its application to the nurses employing it.

Now psychiatrists, orthopods, and ophthalmologists might disagree, this is sensitive stuff, but I have no compunction in introducing psychologists, optometrists, and podiatrists as “Doctor.”  Surveys might prove me wrong, but the environment in which they practice and the scope of their delineated tasks differentiates them in ways I reason the public comprehends, even if it takes a prompt.

Here however, there is no discrepancy.  Two clinicians–physician and nurse doctor–employed at an examination table; and to a casual observer, a false impression emerges.

Is it the money or prestige?  No.  Is it clinical outcomes performing rudimentary activities?  Doubtful.

For me, it is communicating to the world the work behind the training—the sacrifices and untold hours of reading and time in the hospital, that in this context is lost.

Equal work for equal pay is something I trust in, and there many of my colleagues might not take umbrage.  I can live with that.  However, if you call yourself doctor in the framework of care delivery in a hospital or office setting—writing prescriptions and referring to subspecialists—ensure patients get it.  We are not the same.  The public service message goes with the title you bear.  I am proud of my accomplishments and muddling those efforts are unacceptable, to me at least.

Dr. McCarver’s greeting above gets it right.  My fear is she is the exception, not the rule.

UPDATE: While I do have issues with this commentary, there are notable points within:

[…] “Doctors and nurses have been transmuted into “providers.” These descriptors have been widely adopted in the media, medical journals, and even on clinical rounds. Yet the terms are not synonymous. The word “patient” comes from patiens, meaning suffering or bearing an affliction. Doctor is derived from docere, meaning to teach, and nurse from nutrire, to nurture.”

“What impact will this new vocabulary have on the next generation of doctors and nurses? Recasting their roles as those of providers who merely implement prefabricated practices diminishes their professionalism.[…]”

 

Share This Post

4 Comments

  1. […] posted 4/2/11 on The Hospitalist […]

  2. […] Should Be Called “Doctor”? At The Hospitalist Leader, Bradley Flansbaum explores his concerns as a physician when nurses with advanced degrees introduce themselves as […]

  3. […] Should Be Called “Doctor”? At The Hospitalist Leader, Bradley Flansbaum explores his concerns as a medicine when nurses with modernized degrees broach themselves as […]

  4. sbirek October 14, 2011 at 3:53 pm - Reply

    While you’re talking about this issue, try this one. Unless a physician earns 2/3 of his/her income from patient care, the physician should be required to call him/herself an AMD….Administrative Doctor. I’d bet the Administrative Doctor won’t get that diner reservation at the front table.

Leave A Comment

For security, use of Google's reCAPTCHA service is required which is subject to the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.

About the Author: Bradley Flansbaum

Bradley Flansbaum, DO, MPH, MHM works for Geisinger Health System in Danville, PA in both the divisions of hospital medicine and population health. He began working as a hospitalist in 1996, at the inception of the hospital medicine movement. He is a founding member of the Society of Hospital Medicine and served as a board member and officer. He speaks nationally in promoting hospital medicine and has presented at many statewide meetings and conferences. He is also actively involved in house staff education. Currently, he serves on the SHM Public Policy Committee and has an interest in payment policy, healthcare market competition, health disparities, cost-effectiveness analysis, and pain and palliative care. He is SHM’s delegate for the AMA House of Delegates. Dr. Flansbaum received his undergraduate degree from Union College in Schenectady, NY and attended medical school at the New York College of Osteopathic Medicine. He completed his residency and chief residency in Internal Medicine at Long Island Jewish Medical Center in New York. He received his M.P.H. in Health Policy and Management at Columbia University. He is a political junky, and loves to cook, stay fit, read non-fiction, listen to many genres of music, and is a resident of Danville, PA.

Categories

Related Posts

By Gian Toledanes, DO
March 17, 2023 |  0
Ableism is a common yet misunderstood “–ism”. Yet the common thread that ties ableism and other –isms/ forms of discrimination like racism, sexism, and homophobia, is the belief that one group or identity is “less than” others. Specifically, ableism is discrimination of and prejudice against people with disabilities and is rooted in the belief that […]
By Suchita Shah Sata, MD, SFHM
November 15, 2022 |  0
When RaDonda Vaught, a registered nurse at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, was criminally prosecuted for a medication error, it sent shockwaves through the medical community. Over 20 years after the landmark National Academy of Medicine (NAM) report To Err is Human and over a decade after Peter Pronovost catapulted the scientific approach to patient safety, […]
By Suchita Shah Sata, MD, SFHM
September 30, 2022 |  0
If you were designing the perfect hospitalist job description, what would be the optimal workload to achieve high productivity? This was the crux of the discussion during September’s JHMChat. The conversation featured Drs. Marisha Burden, Moksha Patel, Mark Kissler, and Elizabeth Harry as well as researcher Angela Keniston, coauthors of “Measuring and driving hospitalist value: […]
Go to Top