Via ShutterstockThe California Victim Compensation Board is busy tracking down as many remaining victims of forced and involuntary sterilization as possible, going back to 1979, when state eugenics laws were taken off the books.
A nurse practitioner, left, discusses care with a young girl and her mother.(Photo: Monkey Business Images)>OPINION: California is facing a crisis in our healthcare workforce. We lack enough primary care providers. This issue, combined with a wave of physicians getting set to retire and an expanding aging population, has created a perfect storm particularly in our rural and underserved communities.
A nurse with her young patient, and the patient's father. (Photo: Monkey Business Images, via Shutterstock)OPINION: California is one of just 12 states that still excludes qualified nurse practitioners from taking a leading role in helping patients prevent and manage chronic disease like obesity, diabetes and hypertension. I believe this outdated model has deadly consequences for people in our community, where our specialized care for diabetes suffers for lack of qualified health care providers.
A physician and a nurse tend to a patient. (Photo: Tyloer Olson, Shutterstock)Here’s the diagnosis: It was the doctors versus the nurses, and the doctors won – for now. An effort to allow nurse practitioners limited authority to treat patients without the supervision of a doctor was blocked in the Assembly amid opposition from physicians, who said the plan would hinder high-quality medical care.
Health care delivery in California is moving toward an integrated model that brings together physicians, nurses and other health professionals, each playing a specialized role as a member of a team. As professionals that have served in multiple roles on that team, and done the training for each, we believe we are in a unique position to comment on Senate Bills 323 and 622, which would alter the roles of nurse practitioners and optometrists, respectively.