Doctor Duck and Nurse Swan have a busy day treating the various animals that come into their office.

Patients at Risk: The Rise of the Nurse Practitioner and Physician Assistant in Healthcare exposes a vast conspiracy of political maneuvering and corporate greed that has led to the replacement of qualified medical professionals by lesser trained practitioners. As corporations seek to save money and government agencies aim to increase constituent access, minimum qualifications for the guardians of our nation’s healthcare continue to decline—with deadly consequences. This is a story that has not yet been told, and one that has dangerous repercussions for all Americans. With the rate of nurse practitioner and physician assistant graduates exceeding that of physician graduates, if you are not already being treated by a non-physician, chances are, you soon will be. While advocates for these professions insist that research shows that they can provide the same care as physicians, patients do not know the whole truth: that there are no credible scientific studies to support the safety and efficacy of non-physicians practicing without physician supervision. Written by two physicians who have witnessed the decline of medical expertise over the last twenty years, this data-driven book interweaves heart-rending true patient stories with hard data, showing how patients have been sacrificed for profit by the substitution of non-physician practitioners. Adding a dimension neglected by modern healthcare critiques such as An American Sickness, this book provides a roadmap for patients to protect themselves from medical harm. WORDS OF PRAISE and REVIEWS Al-Agba and Bernard tell a frightening story that insiders know all too well. As mega corporations push for efficiency and tout consumer focused retail services, American healthcare is being dumbed down to the point of no return. It's a story that many media outlets are missing and one that puts you and your family's health at real risk. --John Irvine, Deductible Media Laced with actual patient cases, the book’s data and patterns of large corporations replacing physicians with non-physician practitioners, despite the vast difference in training is enlightening and astounding. The authors' extensively researched book methodically lays out the problems of our changing medical care landscape and solutions to ensure quality care. --Marilyn M. Singleton, MD, JD A masterful job of bringing to light a rapidly growing issue of what should be great concern to all of us: the proliferation of non-physician practitioners that work predominantly inside algorithms rather than applying years of training, clinical knowledge, and experience. Instead of a patient-first mentality, we are increasingly met with the sad statement of Profits Over Patients, echoed by hospitals and health insurance companies. --John M. Chamberlain, MHA, LFACHE, Board Chairman, Citizen Health A must read for patients attempting to navigate today’s healthcare marketplace. --Brian Wilhelmi MD, JD, FASA

2011 AJN Book of the Year Winner in Advanced Practice Nursing! "This is a unique book that will be valuable to both graduate students and professional advanced practice nurses. Since the role of the DNP graduate is evolving, this is an important contribution to the field. It focuses on the developing discussion of practice and graduate degrees in the field of nursing and provides up-to-date information about the evolving and expanding roles of DNP graduate nurses." Score: 100, 5 Stars.--Doody's Medical Reviews (2013) "This outstanding and thought provoking book...provides the knowledge to not only understand the issues and role related challenges of doctoral advanced nursing practice but the inspiration to embrace the role and become a transformer of healthcare...the use of reflective responses throughout the chapters by national DNP scholars, practitioners, and experts is a gift to the field." --From the Foreword by Bernadette Mazurek Melnyk, PhD, RN, CPNP/PMHNP, FNAP, FAAN Dean and Distinguished Foundation Professor Arizona State University College of Nursing & Health Innovation Functioning as both a graduate and professional textbook, Role Development for Doctoral Advanced Nursing Practice explores the historical and evolving role of the new doctoral advanced practice registered nurse. This innovative text presents a distinctive two-part chapter organization that provides content followed by one or more Reflective Responses, which consist of commentaries that may counter or support the opinions of each chapter author. Written by well-known DNP leaders representing the diverse roles and experience of academics, administrators, and practitioners from different DNP programs, these Reflective Responses initiate thought-provoking classroom discussion. This stimulating and provocative text presents issues germane to DNP education, core competencies, and unfolding role development. It is an essential resource in DNP role development courses and courses covering contemporary DNP degree issues. Key Features: Provides background information on the evolution of the DNP degree, essential content on role theory, and what nursing "roles" are and how they are evolving Discusses how master's versus doctoral-level advanced nursing practice roles differ Focuses on the basic roles of the DNP graduate that currently predominate: practitioner, clinical executive, educator, clinical scientist, and the role of the clinical scholar Highlights how the DNP can use his or her new competencies to function at a higher level Covers the diverse skills that comprise the doctoral APRN and doctoral APN role, including leadership content, negotiation skills, leveraging technology to support doctoral advanced level practice, and more

The Doctor of Nursing Practice provides information regarding the DNP degree and related role and professional topics. This unique reference includes chapters on the discussion of the evolution of doctoral education in nursing and the development of the DNP, rationale for the development of the DNP degree including relevant discussion of the American Association of Colleges of Nurse's (AACN) Essentials of Doctoral Education for Advanced Practice Nursing, the AACN's Position Paper on the DNP, and the Institute of Medicine's Report calling for higher education among health care professionals. This book also discusses the various roles of the DNP prepared advanced practice nurse including researcher, health policy advocate and nurse leader.

A moving memoir and an extraordinary love story that shows how an expert physician became a family caregiver and learned why care is so central to all our lives and yet is at risk in today's world. When Dr. Arthur Kleinman, an eminent Harvard psychiatrist and social anthropologist, began caring for his wife, Joan, after she was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer's disease, he found just how far the act of caregiving extended beyond the boundaries of medicine. In The Soul of Care: The Moral Education of a Husband and a Doctor, Kleinman delivers a deeply humane and inspiring story of his life in medicine and his marriage to Joan, and he describes the practical, emotional and moral aspects of caretaking. He also writes about the problems our society faces as medical technology advances and the cost of health care soars but caring for patients no longer seems important. Caregiving is long, hard, unglamorous work--at moments joyous, more often tedious, sometimes agonizing, but it is always rich in meaning. In the face of our current political indifference and the challenge to the health care system, he emphasizes how we must ask uncomfortable questions of ourselves, and of our doctors. To give care, to be "present" for someone who needs us, and to feel and show kindness are deep emotional and moral experiences, enactments of our core values. The practice of caregiving teaches us what is most important in life, and reveals the very heart of what it is to be human.

“Deserves a place in the rich contemporary canon of medical memoirs.” —Guardian Weaving together medical history, art, memoir, and science, How to Treat People is a poignant memoir that beautifully explores the intricacies of the human condition. As a trainee nurse, Molly Case learns to care for her patients, sharing not only their pain, but also life-affirming moments of hope. In doing so, she offers a compelling account of the processes that keep them alive, from respiratory examinations to surgical prep, and of the extraordinary moments of human connection that sustain both nurse and patient.

The Future of the Nursing Workforce in the United States: Data, Trends and Implications provides a timely, comprehensive, and integrated body of data supported by rich discussion of the forces shaping the nursing workforce in the US. Using plain, jargon free language, the book identifies and describes the key changes in the current nursing workforce and provide insights about what is likely to develop in the future. The Future of the Nursing Workforce offers an in-depth discussion of specific policy options to help employers, educators, and policymakers design and implement actions aimed at strengthening the current and future RN workforce. The only book of its kind, this renowned author team presents extensive data, exhibits and tables on the nurse labor market, how the composition of the workforce is evolving, changes occurring in the work environment where nurses practice their profession, and on the publics opinion of the nursing profession.