Outlook for NP’s
All across the country some 155,000 NP’s give physicals, stitch wounds, prescribe drugs and manage chronic illnesses. They do almost everything that a primary care physician does. These Nurse practitioners are playing an increasingly important role as the pool of primary care doctors shrinks. Many practice in partnership with a physician, but several states allow NP’ to treat patients independently.
Researh show that nurse-practitioners decrease the cost per patient visit by as much as third, because NPs- who are paid less than physicians-tend to order fewer tests and cut down on return visits by coordinating care better. Patients also give them high marks for spending time with them, according to a 2011 report in Medscape Medical News. The four-NP staff of nurse-managed FamilyCare of Kent, Washington, for example sees only 16-20 patients a day. Our patients visits last from 15-45 minutes,” says Bob Smithing, NP, FamilyCare’s clinical director. “people are choosing nurse-practitioners because they care about having a onsistent provider who gets to know them. Printed in AARP The Magazine, June.
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