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Nurses Practitioners And Physician Assistants

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With advances in medicine, Americans are living longer and with chronic illnesses that require long term medical maintenance. As the population has grown with patients that are aging and becoming sicker in the process, there has presented a shortage of physicians to manage this rise in demand. Now, with the passage of new legislation such as the Affordable Care Act, more patients have access to health care than ever before. Many experts have suggested increasing the utilization of Nurse Practitioners and Physicians assistants as a cost effective resource to tackle to rising cost of healthcare amid a physician shortage in America. Several studies have been performed to assess the viability of these options, to address the advantages and…show more content…
NPs are not only moving into increased roles within the acute care hospital setting, but also into roles in the community as Primary Care Providers (PCPs). The anticipated shortage of physicians to handle an increased number of aging patients already affects my position as a staff nurse at a hospital. A career in nursing offers countless paths to further your education, whether it is to become a specialist in a field of practice, foray into research or to pursue a position as a nurse practitioner. I was interested to learn more information about how expanding the role of Advanced Care Nurse Practitioners (ACNP) may relieve shortages of physicians and lessen the burden on our current healthcare system. Increasing the roles of ACNP would only be feasible if patients are still receiving quality care while decreasing the cost of healthcare. As a nurse returning to school to further my education, I would like to know if pursuing a career as an ACNP would be a viable option for me to continue to interact with patients in an acute care setting in a more specialized role.
Nurse Practitioners as an untapped resource
Nurse Practitioners have been providing primary care since the 1970S, but with recent changes in legislation, they are able to practice with a greater level of autonomy. This leads many to question whether ACNPs are able to meet the increasing
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