Is it time to re-examine the doctor-nurse relationship since the introduction of the independent nurse prescriber?

Abstract

Objective: The aim of this paper is to stimulate a debate and discussion into how the nurse‑doctor relationship needs to change.

Setting: The National Health Service, United Kingdom.

Primary argument: The nurse‑doctor relationship needs to be re‑evaluated in light of the expanding role of nurses into areas that traditionally had been considered a doctor’s role. While the medical profession has been willing to relinquish some control to nurses in areas such as wound or incontinence care because these aspects do not threaten their authority, position or power. The issue of non‑medical prescribing remains for some in the medical profession a topic of concern. Despite non‑medical prescribing being discussed widely in the literature, very little has been mentioned about how the introduction of the nurse prescriber has impacted the professional relationship between the nurse and the doctor.

Conclusion: The blurring of the roles between nurses and doctors requires a re‑evaluation of this relationship. As nurses take on more responsibility such as prescribing medication the old traditional view of this relationship is no‑longer viable, if we are to maximise patient health care in the 21st century.