Nurses are important allies in protecting patients' health

AMA Leader Commentary. By J. Edward Hill, MD, Jan. 23, 2006.

AMA LEADER COMMENTARY

A few words about current events in medical practice

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A message to all physicians from the president of the American Medical Association, J. Edward Hill, MD.

Some of the greatest teachers in medicine have never earned a medical degree, held court during surgical rounds or served as chief medical officer.

You see, many of the best teachers of physicians ... are nurses.

I know this firsthand and for a fact, and I believe it is the responsibility of every physician to support these most important of our colleagues.

It's a lesson I learned long ago.

Soon after I finished my medical education and training in the U.S. Navy, I headed to one of the poorest regions of the Mississippi Delta. At the time, I thought I knew everything I needed to know about delivering babies. My interactions with a nurse midwife soon set me straight.

I was delivering the baby of a first-time mother, and although her labor was progressing well and the baby seemed fine, I started to get impatient. The labor wasn't moving as quickly as I expected, and I said to the nurse, "I think we may have to deliver this baby by forceps." The nurse simply turned to me and said: "Why would you want to do that?"

With a single sentence, she reminded me that the baby would come in its own time, not my time. What's more, with her help and guidance, I not only didn't use forceps, I also didn't perform an episiotomy -- which was standard practice back then. The mother delivered her baby safely and without any tearing.