1 Student, Graduate College of Nursing University of Iowa Iowa City, Iowa 52242
As a student in the pediatric nurse practitioner (PNP) program at the University of Iowa, I was delighted to see the article by Hoekelman1 which presented an experimental study to compare the adequacy of well-baby care given by physicians alone vs. a combination of physicians and PNPs. The review of previous experimental studies2-3 and suggestions for further studies recognizes the need to determine the most efficient use of health personnel.
One question that this study leaves in my mind concerns the well-baby visits that the R.N. conducted in both of the reduced-frequency groups.