Evidence for nurse effectiveness and efficiency
The results of a recent systematic review of the available research
into nurse–doctor substitution suggests that, in the provision of
first contact and ongoing care for unselected patients, nurses can provide as high quality care as GPs.8 Indeed, nurse-led care was in
some respects superior to that of doctors in that nurses tended to
give patients more information and patients were more likely to be
satisfied. No aspects of care were identified in which doctors
performed better than nurses. However, research to date has
rigorously evaluated only a small part of the wide range of care that
nurses provide.