Home page
Go

NS Library
Searchable archive
Supplements
Free special supplements
All in Good Taste
Improving the nation’s health
Newsagents
Can't find a copy of the NS?

REGULARS
Neighbours from hell
Village life
Urban life
Media
The human rights page
This England
Competition
From our archive
Julian's week
Politics
COLUMNS
Liam Halligan
Undercurrents
ARTS & CULTURE
Arts diary
Theatre
Film
Television
Radio
Travels
Sport
Ideas
Reboot
Dress code
Drink


Does the NHS need to rethink the role of nurses?



Parents of this topic:
Power once held by nurses now belongs to managers and administrators. Doctors are esteemed: nurses are not. Nor are they recognised as independent professionals. The Royal College of Nursing proposes nurses be trained to prescribe certain drugs and on 28 February 2002, the BMA suggested nurses become the first contact for NHS patients. They would deal with minor ailments and filter out those patients that have no real need to see a GP. And clinical nurse specialists in hospitals would co-ordinate care.
Do these proposals really suggest a desperate shortage of doctors? Or would such a reassessment utilise wasted skills?
Responses to this topic (4)
Display message of comment Good for patients, good for NHS [view]
Display message of comment Nurses to do more GP work [view]
Display message of comment Role of Nurses [view]
Display message of comment Don't mix skills [view]
Read more from the latest issue of the New Statesman

This article first appeared in the New Statesman. For the latest in current and cultural affairs subscribe to the New Statesman print edition.


Letter to the Editor
Type of response
Subject
Message
Your name
E-mail address
Your Postal Address
All letters to the editor are considered for publication in the weekly magazine. Letters should be as short as possible and should give a full postal address. We reserve the right to cut or edit letters.
Search our archive


NS jobs & internships - Advertising - RSS feeds - Syndication