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closeEvidence, please.
Posted by plosmedicine on 31 Mar 2009 at 00:20 GMT
Author: Teresa Goodell
Position: Assistant professor
Institution: Oregon Health & Science University
E-mail: goodellt@ohsu.edu
Submitted Date: February 21, 2008
Published Date: February 22, 2008
This comment was originally posted as a “Reader Response” on the publication date indicated above. All Reader Responses are now available as comments.
The authors' uncited statement "Nurses are less well-studied in this regard, but are likely to have similar difficulties, exacerbated by their relatively meagre training in pharmacology, statistical inference, and critical appraisal" requires some source of support.
How did the authors conclude that advanced practice nurses have "meager" preparation in these areas? In Oregon, USA, advanced practice nurses who wish to prescribe are required to take a minimum of 45 contact hours of pharmacology. Critical appraisal and application of evidence in practice are integrated throughout the curriculum. The rigor of the statistical content is a frequent source of student complaints, which, in my opinion, means we must be doing something right!
Perhaps "meager" preparation of nurse prescribers is a feature of certain regions or nations. It is not a fact and should not have been stated as such.