Drs. Rebekah Bernard, Niran Al-Agba, and Phil Shaffer break down the 2018 Cochrane Review "Nurses as Substitutes for Physicians in Primary Care," pointing out that of 9,000 studies reviewed over the last 50 years, just 18 were of adequate quality to include in a review of the subject. Of these 18 studies, just THREE were published in the United States, most contained high degrees of bias, had small sample sizes, were of short duration, and ALWAYS included physician supervision or nurses following physician-created protocols. Bottom line: there is no evidence that unsupervised nurse practitioners can provide the same quality of care for patients.
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