Comparison of medical care in nurse clinician and physician clinics in medical school affiliated hospitals

1. 1. A nurse clinician program for the supervision of a large urban diabetic population, based on a 6-week intensive curriculum plus weekly continuing education, has been described. 2. 2. The quality of medical care was compared between the nurse clinician program and the traditional physician house staff system and was found to be equivalent as measured by biochemical parameters, mortality, and morbidity. 3. 3. Advantages of a nurse clinician program include greater continuity of care, more emphasis on preventive medicine (education during clinic visits, telephone calls for non-emergent problems), and decreased multiple clinic visits. An unexpected and very valuable asset of the program was the provision of medical supervision by the individual nurse clinicians in surgical (orthopedic) clinics. Disadvantages include recruitment, training, and adequate remuneration for staff ∗2 .