Discussion Question 1
1. When we consider what types of patients may use the service of a nurse practitioner, instead of a physician, I think it needs to be evaluated on the needs and health of the patient looking for service. More nurse practitioners are being integrated into the healthcare system, in order to assist with a primary care physician shortage. The nurses who have completed extra schooling for this position of a nurse practitioner, are familiar with many of the circumstances that can present in an office or an urgent care facility on a day to day basis (Knickman & Kovner, A., 2015). I have seen nurse practitioners for everyday concerns, like an earache and I did not have any reservations that she was not a physician. If my problem was more severe, if I had chest pains or paralysis, then I would need a medical doctor to assess my situation. We need to decide what is an everyday complaint and what is a serious condition, this will be done by proper diagnosis and evaluation. …show more content…
The shortage of physicians in the beginning was attributed to the higher esteem and pay scale that that specialist would receive, so students gravitated towards a specialty area. Physicians have received encouragement and certain benefits in response to this problem and they have been steadily climbing in the area of primary care. We are still looking at a shortage of primary care physicians, and this is why the use of nurse practitioners was incorporated into the health care system as well. The main problem is the physician care in the rural areas because doctors and medical students will typically train, and live in an urban or suburban area. According to the report in the New England Journal of Medicine “if the numbers of physicians and nurse practitioners were distributed more equally, there may be a sufficient number to care for most people (Iglehart, 2013).” Some system of incentives must be given to work in a more rural area for primary care and for the nurse
1. When we consider what types of patients may use the service of a nurse practitioner, instead of a physician, I think it needs to be evaluated on the needs and health of the patient looking for service. More nurse practitioners are being integrated into the healthcare system, in order to assist with a primary care physician shortage. The nurses who have completed extra schooling for this position of a nurse practitioner, are familiar with many of the circumstances that can present in an office or an urgent care facility on a day to day basis (Knickman & Kovner, A., 2015). I have seen nurse practitioners for everyday concerns, like an earache and I did not have any reservations that she was not a physician. If my problem was more severe, if I had chest pains or paralysis, then I would need a medical doctor to assess my situation. We need to decide what is an everyday complaint and what is a serious condition, this will be done by proper diagnosis and evaluation. …show more content…
The shortage of physicians in the beginning was attributed to the higher esteem and pay scale that that specialist would receive, so students gravitated towards a specialty area. Physicians have received encouragement and certain benefits in response to this problem and they have been steadily climbing in the area of primary care. We are still looking at a shortage of primary care physicians, and this is why the use of nurse practitioners was incorporated into the health care system as well. The main problem is the physician care in the rural areas because doctors and medical students will typically train, and live in an urban or suburban area. According to the report in the New England Journal of Medicine “if the numbers of physicians and nurse practitioners were distributed more equally, there may be a sufficient number to care for most people (Iglehart, 2013).” Some system of incentives must be given to work in a more rural area for primary care and for the nurse