She wasn't 'stirring the pot' so much as she was pointing out how things work in her state. Well, at least if you ignore the ridiculous/unsubstantiated "physicians are a dying breed" claim...
Seriously, though, who cares what Nurse Practicioners call themselves? Frankly, I think it would be easier if they went by 'Dr'. There are nurse practicioners at the clinic where I volunteer, and I never know what to call them...Seriously, just calling them Dr. Smith would be so much easier.
The problem there is that DNP does NOT equal Physician. If there's a doctor shortage and doctors/hospitals want DNPs to take on some of the load under proper supervision, then that's fine. I don't think anyone has a problem with that.
That's awesome. Which justice does he work for?
No. It's on them (NPs/DNPs) to show us that they're safe. It's not up to opponents to do a study showing otherwise. And I'm not cherry picking fluff courses; I went through their entire curricula. It's pretty much the same at every NP/DNP curricula I've looked at. Take a look yourself if you don't believe me. But I'm definitely not cherry picking any courses. Also, the NPs/DNPs pushing for indendency in primary care but this doesn't mean that they're not going to pursue specialties once they have a foothold; I know no one likes slippery slopes, but there's a good chance something like this might happen based on previous history of the nursing community encroaching more and more into medicine (ie. CRNAs, etc).
Your missing the point. Its not opponents of DNP's, its opponents of DNP's training making them able to be physicians. I learned the most from a NP while shadowing, but her training is simply not that of a physician. The DNP training doesn't bridge that gap. Period.
First, nursing boards are just that, they are not USMLE or COMLEX.
Yeah, pretty much.
........Oh well.........I don't see a problem with a doctorate in nursing(DNP) in an academic setting. The problem I have is that there is a strong lobbying effort to introduce that doctorate in a clinical setting. The lobby led by Dr. Mundinger (DNP) of Columbia is basically a ploy to replace PCPs or at least co-join that specialty of medicine. I think I read somewhere that 50% of DNP couldn't pass a diluted Step 3 exam. That doesn't bode well for their argument. Medical doctors are required to pass all three in order to gain independent licensed practice.
Physical Therapy is a doctorate degree yet they are not in a hurry to call themselves doctors in clinical settings. Imagine what that would mean for MDs/DOs that specialize in PM&R?
If that said math teacher wants to teach physics, then yes he should be able to pass the standardized physics test. DNP can't argue for independent medical practice in primary care if they can't pass the standardized test taken by PCPs. What criteria should be used to judge competency? As of now, DNP curriculum is not standardized everywhere so the USMLE is the only crude means to test their medical knowledge.
Fine. Ms. Mundinger is one lady but she gets a lot of publicity so her stance must be addressed and scruntized. AMA is the largest physician body, they don't represent all doctors but they are a strong lobbying group so most lawmakers and the media pay attention to what they do whether or not they agree with them on certain issues. Also I'm not sure why you're placing the burden of proof on others to show whether DNPs are qualified or unqualified. You don't place untested drugs in the open market and play "wait and see" to see if it works or not.
Wikipedia is now your source for evidence? Nice. As has already been stated, the "clinical " aspect of the degree is debatable. Since it's non-standardized, in some universities, they are basically taking MPH classes. While in others it's a loopsided combo of qualitative courses with some clinical science thrown in.
Truth. Evidently not every idiot can conduct thorough research on the internet
. And zinciest- 'that thing' about the Step 3 is not useless. A PsyD is also considered a clinical degree, but all clinical degrees are not the same and such a degree would be useless in a hospital setting (except in the psych ward, as mentioned earlier). IMO, any other person holding a doctorate besides an MD or DO should not be referred to as 'Doctor' in a hospital setting.
Like both myself and others have said, the burden of proof is on the NPs/DNPs, not the critics. Otherwise, based on your logic, I can say that there exists a certain invisible magical bunny that controls every aspect of your life and since you can't disprove it, it must exist. Does that make sense to you?
Why only Step 3? What about the 2 years of preclinical training, the two years of clinical training (where you put in several thousand hours), Step 1, both the Step 2s, and residency? Why do they get to skip all that?
