Re: Washington Times – 7/20/2008 – “STANGLER: Doctor nurse will see you now” – Dane Stangler

What a novel idea to keep costs low. Stangler takes the old saying “You get what you pay for” to new heights.

Stangler thinks that ”it seems odd that with rising health care costs, we should seek to toughen requirements for health-care providers. That will likely only increase costs; studies show nurse practitioners provide 80 percent of the care a physician provides at a much lower cost. DNPs already command higher prices than NPs.” Perhaps we should lower requirements for NPs, and then we could pay them even less. If we removed all educational requirements, maybe we could get the care for free.

Stangler’s wishes to the contrary, the level of education required of a health care provider is more than a cost issue --- one may validly question whether the current level of training a NP (or any other professional) has is sufficient for their responsibilities. If NP’s have high enough educational standards already they should be licensed to take that responsibility without requiring an additional degree. If not, they should have their responsibilities decreased down to their level of competence or be required to get more education.

Such decisions (DNP or not to DNP) must be made based on cost/benefit, not cost alone. Almost all Stangler’s comments are addressed to the cost side. Only one mention is made of a single study that addresses the benefit side. Hopefully, the DNP decision will be made by those who give equal attention to both the cost and benefit sides of the issue.