2013 Question of the year: What is a doctor? What is a nurse?

摘要

Afew years ago my daughter informed me that she was considering a career in health care and was trying to decide between nursing school and medical school. She wanted my advice. I thought about her strengths and interests and where she might fit best in the health care system. As I prepared to respond, I realized that many of my comments would probably be based upon roles and functions that had changed considerably since I had trained. Nurses now have options to become nurse practitioners, nurse anesthetists, intensivist nuirse practitioners, and nurse executives. Teams are replacing the model in which doctors write the orders and nurses carry them out, doctors make the decisions and nurses do assessments. How was I to provide useful advice about such an important decision?