Doctors and the nurse endoscopist issue in New Zealand.

AIM: Training and recruitment of Nurse Endoscopists (NEs) is currently actively debated in medical circles. The aim of this survey was to obtain the views of doctors regarding the role of NEs in New Zealand (NZ).

METHODS

A web-based, self-administered questionnaire was sent to 84 endoscopists currently working in 25 public hospitals across all the 20 District Health Boards. The survey period was July 2011. Data was analysed using descriptive statistics.

RESULTS

The response rate was 47.5%. Fifty percent of the respondents worked in tertiary hospitals. Only 30% had a positive attitude towards the introduction of NEs in NZ. The majority (62%) believed that doctors would deliver better quality of endoscopy services than NEs. Only 37% thought that the introduction of NEs will reduce the cost of services. Forty-one percent thought it was inappropriate for the NEs to be enrolled in the Bowel Cancer Screening Programme and only 6 doctors (18%) thought that NEs should be allowed to perform therapeutic endoscopic procedures.

CONCLUSION

Only a minority of doctors had a positive attitude towards the role of NEs. The majority considered doctors to deliver 'higher' quality of service and only a minority thought that the introduction of NEs will lower the cost of services.