Nurses should have experience of medical training

BMJ 1995;311:872 (30 September)

Letters

Nurses should have experience of medical training

EDITOR,--I agree with Jane Salvage that the traditional divisionof labour between doctors and nurses is changing and that nursingwork is currently undervalued.¹ The move towards the ideal ofexpert nurses complementing but not substituting for expertdoctors to provide a better service for patients must be basedon mutual understanding of each other's current roles. Manydoctors are ignorant of nursing work. I believe, however, thatnurses are equally if not more ignorant of doctors' work. Mostmedical courses address doctors' ignorance of nursing work tosome extent by incorporating some experience in nursing work.As far as I am aware, the converse is not true. Perhaps thisshould be considered in nursing courses to help mutual understanding.

Senior registrar in child health Child Health Department, BathWest Community NHS Trust, Bath BA1 3QE

Neil Simpson