Sandeep Jauhar argued a few months ago in a New York Times' op-ed that "Nurses Are Not Doctors" and shouldn't be given the same responsibilities to care for patients. Jauhar is right: nurses have different skills than doctors, and leveraging these strengths may be the most disruptive, effective way to improve healthcare. Nurses tend to take into account each person's unique values, beliefs and fears, and how those should factor into what treatments are recommended. With a doctor, patients get about 23 seconds to say what's on their mind and the entire visit is often less than 10 minutes. Not nearly enough time to get to know someone.
