Trends in State Regulation of Nurse Practitioners and Physician Assistants, 2001 to 2010

The contribution of nurse practitioners and physician assistants to generalist care in Washington State.

OBJECTIVE To quantify the total contribution to generalist care made by nurse practitioners (NPs) and physician assistants (PAs) in Washington State. DATA SOURCES State professional licensure renewal survey data from 1998-1999. STUDY DESIGN Cross-sectional. Data on medical specialty, place of practice, and outpatient visits performed were used to estimate productivity of generalist physicia...

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...