The Power of Nurses

AARP has a great piece from yesterday about just how helpful nurse practitioners are in keeping patients healthy across the country. There are even hundreds of clinics nationwide that are fully staffed with nurses. Doctors are always preferred, but nurses can often be just as effective as treating a person when the doc's away, Here's a snippet:
"Nurse practitioners can deal with about 80 percent of the problems that show up in primary care settings," says Marla Salmon, ScD, RN, FAAN, dean of nursing at the University of Washington. "Allowing advanced practice nurses to do what they do well improves efficiency and increases access to health care. And when nurse practitioners encounter a problem they can't deal with, they can refer patients to the appropriate doctor."
In a report released today called "Leading Change, Advancing Health," the Institute of Medicine and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation outlines the many ways in which nurses are key to solving many of the challenges facing health care. "Given their education, experience, and unique perspectives and the centrality of their role in providing care, nurses will play a significant role in the transformation of the health care system," the report states.
It's really great to see nurses get their dues; they certainly deserve it. Check out the rest.