New PA Niche: Handwashing Spy
According to a widely published Associated Press article, the University of Michigan is using PAs as spies.
In U-Michigan's hospital halls, physician assistants are assigned to spy to tell if fellow workers wash hands both when entering and exiting patient rooms. Workers are better at remembering on the way in, but they don't want to carry germs back to the nurses' station or elevator buttons, either, Campbell notes. Some bugs can live on cool hospital surfaces for weeks.
Seems like a waste for highly trained, well-paid health care providers, doesn't it? What's next, NPs as parking valets?
I suspect it is just another case of misidentifying PAs.
The article, which has been picked up by many major news outlets, is by longtime AP medical writer Lauran Neergaard, who is probably the most widely read health care writer in the United States. Woudn't you think she'd know about the PA profession by now?
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