Doctor and Nurse: Changing Roles and Relations

Abstract Among many patient needs, the physician concentrates on diagnosis and treatment and must work with others to provide comprehensive care. Although caring, helping, comfort and guidance are fundamental to nursing, forces within medicine, nursing and society tend to constrict the nurse's role to tasks delegated by medicine. An interprofessional relation characterized by medical authoritarianism and nursing's dependence blocks realization of the full potentials of the doctornurse team. Consequently patient care suffers accordingly. New approaches, including the clinical nurse specialist, the expanded role of the nurse and the physician's assistant, show promise of improving care. Each approach has its advantages; all will require reasoned judgment and joint planning.