By: Angelina Gibson

Updated 10/20/17 - 4:08 pm PST

Dr. David Glener reached out to Nurse.org regarding this article stating the following:

"I left my laptop unattended and open to my Doximity page. Somebody thought it would be 'funny' to post inflammatory comments under my name. Not so funny...I contacted Doximity and the posts have been removed. My password has been changed."

Dr. Glener went on to say that he had received threats of death, violence, and "horrible vitriol" left on the answering machine of this office. He said that his wife and children are quite distressed.

Nurse.org would like to stress that we do not condone any threats of violence against Dr. Glener and would urge those who are upset by these comments to keep the discourse civil.

We have updated the article to reflect the facts only and not any other suppositions.

We have reached out to Dr. Glener for additional comment.

Original Article Follows:

A series of posts on the social media site, Doximity, has Dr. David Glener in hot water. The posts on the doctor's Doximity account appear to take issue with Nurse Practitioners being called 'Doctors' and has created a firestorm within the medical community.

The posts appear to have been in response to the article, California Doesn’t Have Enough Doctors And This Bad Law Isn’t Helping. The article talks about the shortage of doctors in California and discusses how doctors are blocking a law from being passed that will expand the role of Nurse Practitioners.

The Doximity posts attacked Nurse Practitioners (NP) by stating that they are not physicians and that NPs think it’s “cute” when patients refer to them as “Dr. Susie or Dr. Brian.” In fact, many Nurse Practitioners indeed have Doctorate Degrees.

The rant continued, attacking the education, IQ and clinical experience of NPs. The comments even went so far as to state that Nurse Practitioners are “useful but, only as minions.”

Nurse Practitioners are outraged by these remarks, many have voiced their opinions across social media. Droves of nurses have emailed Florida State University where Dr. Glener was thought to be employed as a Professor within the College of Medicine. He is actually a volunteer lecturer who only speaks there once a year.

Mike MacKinnon MSN FNP-C CRNA, shared his email correspondence on Facebook - and is documenting his full conversation via dropbox.

In response to his email, MacKinnon received the following email from Florida State University:

Mr. McKinnon,

I am reaching out to you on behalf of President Thrasher who was also dismayed to see the comments by Dr. Glener. Please know, neither the President nor the university support his disparaging remarks about nurse practitioners. Dr. Glener should ensure his opinions are made as a private practitioner and not as a faculty representative, though we hope he will discontinue such remarks. Dean Fogarty from the College of Medicine has contacted Dr. Glener to voice our concerns.

Regards,

Elizabeth E. Hirst

Deputy Chief of Staff

Office of the President

850.645.0152 office

More members of the medical community have reached out to Florida State University expressing their concerns with Glener’s supposed remarks. Another user shared this photo of the email she received from Florida State University’s Dean.

Whether Dr. Glener's statements are the result of a hack or not, the sentiment is not uncommon. David Liu, M.D wrote a controversial article detailing the reasons why he believes Nurse Practitioners should not provide primary care without physician oversight.

The need for trained medical professionals is at an all-time high. With the looming shortage of doctors, nurses are stepping up to fill in the gaps and provide medical needs to a growing population.

What Does A Nurse Practitioner Do?

NPs can prescribe medication, examine patients, diagnose illnesses, and provide treatment, much like physicians do. In fact, nurse practitioners have what’s referred to as “full practice authority” in 20 states, meaning that they do not have to work under the supervision of a doctor. In the remaining states, however, while NPs still have more authority than RNs, they must have a medical doctor sign on certain patient care decisions.

Nevertheless, nurse practitioners are increasingly becoming integral to medical teams as more and more hospitals and healthcare facilities are utilizing their expertise. Their experience as working nurses gives them a unique approach to patient care, while their advanced studies qualify them to take on additional duties that are usually left to physicians. In fact, as reported by the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF), it’s estimated that NPs can provide 80-90 percent of the care that primary care physicians offer.