The Wall Street Journal published an article entitled “The Doctor Won’t See You Now,” discussing the use of nurse practitioners. Dr. Bernard describes the letter she wrote to the WSJ arguing that physicians want to see patients but have been replaced.

Further, there are no studies that show safe independent nurse practice. A few days later, Mary Mundinger, DrPH, wrote the WSJ to rebut Dr. Bernard’s argument, stating that her 2000 JAMA study showed the safety and efficacy of independent nurse practitioners.

We discuss the finer points of Mundinger’s study to uncover the truth.