Hi all, so before I comment on my opinion of deprofessionalization, it is
important to understand exactly what this means for healthcare professionals.
Basically, the more tasks a person can take on, without studying fully for it,
as a doctors or nurse would do, the more the doctor and nurse become
deprofessionalized, or deskilled from their occupation. This can also be
defined as "the decreasing distance, in knowledge or education, between
doctors and patients". (Kritzer, 2001) We have seen this happen with the new
positions dwindling down from an MD, to a Physician assistant, to a Nurse
Practitioner, to a Registered Nurse, a Licensed practical Nurse, and so on.
Basically, we take more away from he doctor, and give the task to the next
person under him, however, the original profession does not get eliminated. I
think a lot off this has to do with the lack of access to care for some
communities, and the shortage of healthcare professionals in the country.
This allows for the population to be able to see other professionals, rather
than the doctors. I haver sen this happen a lot lately, especially because we
have been having many clinics opening, and a majority of them have P.As or
nurse practitioner working., The doctor is still the head boss, and the final
person who makes the final decisions, however, the PAs are the ones seeing
the patients. It's almost as if the doctor has changed to doing only surgeries,
and administrative work.
I do not believe this will change in the near future. I believe this is the new
way of healthcare. People will most likely see the nurses for check ups and
problems, and defer to the doctors for more serious problems, like surgeries.
With the increase in adults ages 65+ needing healthcare, and the shortage of
healthcare workers, I believe this will be an ongoing thing for a while.
Kritzer, H.M (2001).4Science Direct."Deprofessionalization- an overview."
Retrieved
from4https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/social-sciences/deprofessionalizat
ion
