Advance Practice Nursing Case Study

Running head: Advance Practice Nurses A Promising Solution

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Advance Practice Nurses
A Promising Solution
For
America’s Health Care Needs
T R D
August 31, 2012

The recent approval of the Affordable Care Act will result in major changes for the

 Running head: Advance Practice Nurses A Promising Solution

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health care providers in America. Advance Practice Nurses (APN’s) will be in a position to have a positive impact on the provision of safe, compassionate, affordable and efficient healthcare for millions of newly insured Americans. Although some opponents of APNs as providers of primary care feel that the doctors role is being taken over and that APN’s should not practice medicine independently without fulfilling state requirements for medical doctors; current trends in
APN’s exceeded MD’s in measures of patient satisfaction, consult time, and follow­up. Another recent international systematic review looked at the differences in health outcomes, the resources used, and types of care provided between patients being treated by
NP’s and MD’s. No differences were found. They did find that the patients seen by NP’s were more satisfied with their care and the length of time the practitioner spent with them. (Horrocks,
S. et al, 2002 & Laurent,M. et al, 2008). Through a verbal interview process, this student sought the opinion of a local pediatrician who has worked in a practice with APN’s who were phased out of a HMO system. Two questions were asked: 1) Do you feel NP’s have a role in the provision of primary care? and 2) What were your thoughts regarding APN’s being phased out of your health care system?
Dr. Linda Eley stated that she thinks very highly of Nurse Practitioners. She thinks that
NP’ are more thorough than MD’s. “They make sure that they cover all the bases in
In addition to this, Medicare, which sets the pace for payments from private insurance only pays APN’s approximately 85% of what it pays MD’s
(Maher,2010). Therefore, for the extended education that MD’s receive and pay for, they are compensated monetarily in comparison to APN’s. While part of the issue does relate to the issue of payment for care provided, the focus of our nation’s health care dilemma should be focused on preparing enough primary care providers to handle the increased demand for health care that is about to explode exponentially in the US in 2014. The debate over regulation of the role of
APN’s and their reimbursement for the care they provide continues on the state level by both nursing and medical organizations.
APN’s have the education and ability to provide safe patient care. The IOM report expresses that access to high­quality care can be broadened through increased use of APN’s in

 Running head: Advance Practice Nurses A Promising Solution