[lettie]

Originally Posted by chav1

i think peel houses system where you see the nurse so she can refer you to a doctor if she thinks you need one is dangerous

granted cut fingers and dressings are one thing but should a nurse be deciding if you need a doctor or not

doctors are trained to pick up on things and to look for certain symtoms and as far as i know a nurse isnt or they would be called doctors and not nurses

i think its wrong that that reponsability is put on the nurses and they should only be used for taking blood, changing dressings and other nurse dutys

i do not think they should be diagnosing patients

granted this system probably roots out people who take up and waste appointments because they have a runny nose but unless a person has been through the same training as a doctor they shouldnt be deciding if people are ill enough or not to see a doctor

Dear oh dear Chav.... You really don't have the foggiest idea what a nurses duties and training entail do you?
Nurses are also trained to look for certain symptoms and pick up on them. Nurses participate in the training of medical students. Nurses in hospitals are there to stop the junior doctors accidentally killing people, which has happened to me and several of my colleagues in the past. Most senior nurses and midwives are perfectly able to diagnose what is wrong with someone with great accuracy and guess what, we aren't even paid for it.... Talk about cheap labour. Most nurses working in primary healthcare (GP surgeries) or specialist areas have further qualifications to enable them to take clients from the doctors (cheap labour again). Furthermore our code of professional conduct forbids us from undertaking duties for which we are not trained or are not competent to do. So the next time you are assessed by a nurse whether it be in a surgery or in A&E be aware that he or she is trained to do that job and probably hundreds of other roles which we have been trained to do in order to take work off the junior doctors. Also be aware that we do not get paid extra for doing these roles.