This is a protocol for a Cochrane Review (intervention). The objectives are as follows:

The main objective of the review is to examine the impact of substituting nurses for doctors in the hospital setting (hospital inpatient units and outpatient clinics) on patient outcomes, process of care outcomes, and economic outcomes.

The secondary objectives of this review are to assess whether the effects of nurse-doctor substitution differ according to healthcare setting (low- and middle-income countries versus high-income countries), patient disease, patient type (inpatients versus outpatients), and mode of nursing practice (unsupervised versus delegated/under medical supervision).