Dean Potempa Responds to Misleading Report
Dean Potempa issues strong rebuke after AAFP grossly misrepresents New York Times quote.
I strongly disagree with the message of, and my representation within, a newly released paper from the American Academy of Family Practitioners (AAFP). The paper, entitled Primary Care for the 21st Century: Ensuring a Quality, Physician-led Team for Every Patient, denotes that allowing nurse practitioners (NPs) to practice to the full extent of their education and training would be detrimental to health care. However, more than 30 years of research, including a report from the Institute of Medicine (IOM,) The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health (2010), validates NPs as well-equipped providers of high-quality primary care.
I am deeply disappointed the AAFP used a quote I gave to the New York Times a year ago and repurposed it in a manner that did not respect or represent the original context. In the New York Times article I said, “Nurses are very proud of the fact that they’re nurses, and if nurses had wanted to be doctors, they would have gone to medical school.” The AAFP took editorial liberties by inferring the statement meant that nurses lacked the substance of doctors. Let me be clear: nurses are not trying to misrepresent themselves. People chose to become nurses because they are driven by the opportunity of nursing to affect positive outcomes in care.
As the Affordable Care Act is implemented, 30 million previously uninsured Americans will have access to insurance coverage. This influx of new patients coincides with the aging of our largest population segment - the Baby Boomer generation. The IOM report indicates that physician providers alone will not be able to meet the demand. The report compellingly concludes that, “Regulatory and institutional obstacles — including limits on nurses' scope of practice — should be removed so that the health system can reap the full benefit of nurses' training, skills, and knowledge in patient care.”
The AAFP did not make an effort to contact me regarding the use or clarification of my quote and it resulted in a gross misrepresentation that could divide and distract at a time that calls for unity and renewed constructive focus on health care.
Kathleen Potempa, PhD, RN, FAAN
Dean and Professor
University of Michigan School of Nursing
