Nurse practitioners and medical practice: opposing forces or complementary contributions?

Area of Science:

• Healthcare policy
• Nursing practice
• Medical practice

Background:

• Concerns exist within Australia's medical profession regarding the expansion of nursing roles into traditional medical domains.
• Specific apprehension surrounds nurse practitioners prescribing medications.

Purpose of the Study:

• To critique the argument that nurse practitioners offer a lower standard of care than medical practitioners.
• To evaluate the quality of care provided by nurse practitioners in comparison to medical practitioners.

Main Methods:

• Literature review and critical analysis of existing evidence.
• Comparative assessment of care standards between nurse practitioners and medical practitioners.

Main Results:

• Despite opposition from the medical profession, there is limited evidence to support claims of inferior quality in nurse practitioner services.
• Available data indicates that the quality of care and treatment from nurse practitioners in primary health care is equivalent to that provided by medical practitioners.

Conclusions:

• The quality of care provided by nurse practitioners is comparable to that of medical practitioners.
• Evidence does not support the notion that nurse practitioners offer a lesser standard of care.
• Nurse practitioner roles in primary health care are supported by evidence of equal quality of service.