Role of Advanced Practice Nurse

ROLE OF THE APRN

This article compares and contrasts the attitudes and opinions of physicians and nurse

practitioners on what they believe the roles, responsibilities, scopes of practice, and

reimbursement should be for nurse practitioners in the primary care setting. The purpose is to

look at the role of nurse practitioners and the effects on health care if the supply of nurse

practitioners is increased and the scope of their practice is expanded. A study including 467

randomly selected nurse practitioners and 505 randomly selected physicians (all providing direct

patient care primary care practices) was done to gather information about the attitudes and

opinions of physicians and nurse practitioners toward these issues. Both groups were questioned

via mail surveys and were all asked the same group of questions.

The two groups had opposing attitudes toward roles and scope of practice for nurse

practitioners. Nearly three-fourths of the nurse practitioners surveyed reported that they are

allowed to practice to the full extent of their education and training. They report that regulations,

and work setting are factors limiting them from practicing within their scope of practice. Of the

physicians surveyed, only seventeen percent reported that they believe that nurse practitioners

should be allowed to lead medical homes; eighty two percent of nurse practitioners report that

they have the education and ability to lead a medical home. Nearly ninety percent of the

physicians surveyed agreed that nurse practitioners defer certain types of patient care services

and procedures to a physician. Sixty-one percent of nurse practitioners agreed with this.

Reimbursement was the area with the largest discrepancy in opinion on the survey

between the two groups. Ninety-six percent of physicians surveyed disagree that nurse

practitioners should be paid equally for the same services provided by the...