What are your thoughts on the role of nurse practitioners in healthcare and gaining independent practicing rights?

This is my first post, but I thought you might be interested in the topic as it deals with a profession that is heavily skewed towards women with regard to gender ratios.

I'm getting my M.D., and while I have no problem with nurse practitioners and their profession as it is, I do have a problem when they introduce themselves as "Dr. Whoever" in the hospital. It only adds to the patient's confusion as to who his physician is. I'm not trying to bash on their profession, but they are NOT physicians, as much as they want to be. If they wanted to be a doctor, they should have gone to medical school. Period.

They don't have the same background in the basic sciences in order to understand mechanisms of action, they don't have even close to the same amount of clinical training, and they don't take the same licensing exams. At the same time, they're lobbying hard to gain the same practicing rights as physicians (M.D.'s and D.O.'s). Now we have nurse practitioners trying to gain more autonomy in specialized fields (anesthesiology and GI, for example).

Columbia developed a watered down exam for NPs to take that is supposed to be comparable (it's easier) to Step 3 of the USMLE, (US Medical Licensing Exam), and you can look at some of the results here. (First time pass rates on the real Step 3 for DOs and MDs are around 95%, and 85% for students from schools outside the US)

http://www.cumc.columbia.edu/nursing/dnpcert/rates.shtml

"The purpose of this exam is to test DNP graduates' medical knowledge and understanding of the clinical science considered essential for the sophisticated practice of comprehensive care, with emphasis on patient management in ambulatory care settings. This provides evidence of the competence necessary to assume independent responsibility for providing comprehensive care to patients. DNP competencies developed by CACC (2003, 2006, and 2010) are covered in this exam."

What if they're asked to take the REAL Step 3 that physicians have to take for the same practicing rights? I think it's safe to assume that the results will be similar, if not worse, but they'll never be required to take Step 3.

Nurse practitioners have a role in healthcare and are a part of our future, but their degree confers the title of "Doctor of Nursing Practice"...NOT "Doctor of Medicine". I'm not totally against NPs gaining independent practice rights, but if they want that, they need to take the SAME board licensing exams as the rest of us.

http://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2013/05/nurse-practitioners-released-arbitrary-bondage.html

http://www.beckershospitalreview.com/hospital-physician-relationships/facing-physician-shortage-autonomous-nurse-practitioners-still-stir-debate.html

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/06/27/the-gulf-between-doctors-and-nurse-practitioners/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0