It is always unclear where these studies are going. Is a patient better cared for if seen by a doctor who is a MD, PhD versus a MD, or a MD,FRCP, FACP versus a MD?
Medical personnel as well as patients seem to think so ( despite a lack of evidence) and these qualifications are displayed with great pride in several place in the world.
I wonder why they would have a nurse who is not a BSN taking care of the patients? Can we call them nurses?Are these mid-level providers? ( Can we call a someone a doctor with a MD, or MBBS?) .
A recent Noble prize winner in economics figured out that many people usually get multiple advanced qualificiations to get an competitive edge in the job market rather than truly utilise these qualifications in daily life.
While a level of competency is required for any job, it is unclear where the element of self study( EBM, adult education, etc.) comes into the equation? Do we ask people to take a Master's in EBM to practice EBM, so on and so forth.
Hippocrates, Socrates might have had a tough time in the current job market!
Amit K. Ghosh
Rochester, MN
> ----------
> From: Ted Harding[SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
> Reply To: Ted Harding
> Sent: Wednesday, September 24, 2003 9:38 AM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: Education level of nurses & patient outcome
>
> On 24-Sep-03 badri badrinath wrote:
> > Today's JAMA has published a study which explores the relation between
> > educational levels of nurses and outcome of surgical patients in
> > hospitals.
> >
> > Aiken LH, Clarke SP,Cheung RB, Sloane DM, Silber JH. Educational Levels
> > of Hospital Nurses and Surgical Patient Mortality. JAMA.
> > 2003;290:1617-1623.
> >
> > According to the authors "this study provides the first empirical
> > evidence that hospitals' employment of nurses with BSN and higher
> > degrees is associated with improved patient outcomes".
> >
> > This findings will have profound implications on recruitment as well as
> > planning of nurse workforce which is already in considerable short
> > supply.
> > My question is as this evidence is based on observational design, is it
> > enough to convince the hospital managers and the policy makers? If not
> > how can one generate experimental evidence in areas like this?
>
> God help anyone trying to design an RCT for this one! How, for instance,
> can you "blind" a patient to the educational level of their nurse?
> (let alone get them to sign a consent form that they may risk being
> assigned to a nurse with lower qualifications)
>
> Ted.
>
>
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> E-Mail: (Ted Harding) <[log in to unmask]>
> Fax-to-email: +44 (0)870 167 1972
> Date: 24-Sep-03 Time: 15:38:34
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