Given these differing responsibilities, nurses simply spend more time with patients than doctors do. Doctors work in episodes, Robinson says: They pop in for morning rounds, an afternoon procedure, or a 7-minute consultation. Nurses, on the other hand, often work in 12-hour shifts that allow them to notice changes big or small. “We’re with patients moment to moment,” she says.
Jennifer Mensik Kennedy, president of the American Nurses Association, frames it the same way. “We are physically and emotionally closer to patients than almost anyone in the system,” Kennedy says. “We’re there at 2 a.m. We’re there during their fear and their pain and their uncertainty, not just the decision points.”
Doctors aren’t actually spending less time on their patients than nurses, says Dr. Danielle Ofri, a primary care internist at Bellevue Hospital in New York. They’re spending it differently—often invisibly. They’re adding documentation to the patient’s chart, calling consultants, tracking down a CT result, and arguing with insurance. And, increasingly, they’re checking the patient portal during off-hours, because patients now see their results the moment they post and Ofri doesn’t want anyone sitting alone with a scary result. “When my patient finishes the visit and leaves the room, I’m not done with them,” Ofri says. “I don’t know if patients recognize how much work their doctors are putting in behind the scenes.”
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