Are nurses ‘perfectly able to do more’?

I wanted to make mention of an article from The Australian last week, titled Nurses perfectly able to do more.

It’s an interesting article for several reasons; firstly because it makes reference to the ever growing problems facing public hospitals in Australia, and makes claim that the widely proposed solution to open more beds is a flawed response.

Secondly, because it questions the current model of GP’s, nurses and funding as follows:

“Nurses are increasingly playing a vital role in general practice. Doctors and the Australian Medical Association are keen to see nurses’ roles in general practice extended as long as they remain under a GP’s direction and Medicare rebates for their services go to a supervising GP.
 
Enhancing the role of practice nurses is well supported, but of totally no use to communities that don’t have a GP. And why limit the nurses’ roles to a fee-for-service based system where tasks are identified and funded item by item? The reality is that nurses provide nursing care, not bits and pieces of what a doctor does.
 
The two professions are independent of each other but complementary, and at times intersect or overlap. Why can’t there be independent funding, free of the GP, for what a nurse does in a clinic — or anywhere, for that matter?”

The article goes on to discuss avoiding trips to GP’s or hospitals through the use of primary health care methods.

“Nurse-led clinics funded to order diagnostic tests or prescriptions would allow qualified nurses to manage chronic health conditions, such as diabetes. Nurses are adequately knowledgeable to make referrals to other health professionals, identifying potential or developing problems.
 
Nurses working collaboratively in this capacity would greatly improve the efficiency of the workforce. GPs’ workloads would be dramatically reduced improving access to care for more people.”

The article sums up by suggesting that primary health care in isolation won’t solve the impending health care crisis.

As the largest part of the health workforce, nurses have a great contribution to make. Looking at ways to further use the skills and experience of health care workers in ways that are meaningful and effective to the community at large will go a long way to ease the burden of a strained health system.

Any thoughts?