Nurses 1974 (including my wife)
Nurses were always important, but I think looking ahead they’re going to be the centerpiece of medical care. For years nursing ranks as the most trusted profession in America. As you will discover in my autobiography “Life on the Thin Blue Line“, two wonderful nurses inspired me to write my book. I’m married to a nurse who has seen me through some of the most challenging times. Nurses were there for me when I was deathly ill with hepatitis during my residency.
Why are nurses so trusted? They spend the most time at the bedside, taking care and tending to the sick. Physicians breeze by and wave. Nurses attend. Nurses participate, nurture, help, and protect patients.
There is a paradigm shift occurring in medical care. The most trusted group, nurses, are now becoming the primary care-givers. Nurse practitioners are becoming the centerpiece as providers of basic medical care.
My thoughts: I think this is great. Nurses still spend more time with patients, even in busy offices. They are able to focus on problem solving and are now collegial with physicians rather than secondary or subordinate. The old days of the “Doctor” (with a capital “D”) strutting onto the hospital ward of into the office giving orders, throwing a chart on the desk, or asking for coffee is finally coming to an end.
My career always integrated nursing into my patient care. In the operating room, I would demonstrate and discuss the case with the nurses. On rounds, I would discuss the patient problems and work closely with the nurses caring for my sickest patients. Nurses always had my back. They knew the patients and the patient concerns.
Nurse practitioners-in-training 2017 my wife is now teaching the future nurse-practitioners)
I see the future of medical care in the hands of competent well-trained Nurse Practitioners coordinating with physicians, but leading in interpersonal care and providing satisfaction and successful outcomes for patients.
Complicated situations will always require specialists. Difficult procedures will always rely on experienced and well-trained specialists. But the initial evaluation, the follow-up, the routine care and treatment will rest in the hands of the nurse practitioner.
Interested in my thoughts about the future of medicine? My adventures with the NYPD? My training and why I feel so strongly about nurses? Pick up my book
