Integration of Nurse Practitioners and Physician Assistants in Emergency Departments

The impact on patient flow after the integration of nurse practitioners and physician assistants in 6 Ontario emergency departments.

OBJECTIVE We sought to assess the impact of the integration of the new roles of primary health care nurse practitioners (NPs) and physician assistants (PAs) on patient flow, wait times and proportions of patients who left without being seen in 6 Ontario emergency departments (EDs). METHODS We performed a retrospective review of health records data on patient arrival time, time of initial asse...

Expanding Roles of Nurse Practitioners and Physician Assistants

Nurse practitioners, certified nurse midwives, and physician assistants in physician offices.

The expansion of health insurance coverage through health care reform, along with the aging of the population, are expected to strain the capacity for providing health care. Projections of the future physician workforce predict declines in the supply of physicians and decreasing physician work hours for primary care. An expansion of care delivered by nurse practitioners (NPs), certified nurse m...

Patient Satisfaction: Comparing Physician Assistants, Nurse Practitioners, and Physicians

bottom right WENDY RAY is the assistant to the Assistant Regional Medical Director for Quality Management and Systems for NWP in Portland, Oregon. Patient acceptance and satisfaction with care has only recently received attention in the medical literature. Interest has grown concomitantly with increasing competition among health plans: Because they need to attract and retain members, health pla...

Nurse practitioners and physician assistants: do you know the difference?

W I was a new graduate nurse working on a medicalsurgical unit, I assumed that Karen was a physician as she rounded and wrote patient care orders. Another nurse identified Karen as a nurse practitioner (NP) and opened my eyes to a whole new world of advanced nursing practice. I was curious to know more about NPs and physician assistants (PAs), whom I also saw in patient care. Was it legal for t...