DiversityNursing Blog

By: Juliet Wilkinson

The ink isn’t dry on your nursing license and already you’ve had your first epiphany as an RN--“People are looking to me for answers now.” Simulation labs, nursing theories and hours of didactics won’t prepare you for the first time one of your patients yanks off their IV and gown and wanders into the hall at 2 a.m. naked.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, registered nurses held 2.7 million jobs in the United States as of 2010. Whether you’re still waiting for your license in the mail or working as a novice in the field, getting a position is only half of the battle. To enjoy fulfillment in your career and avoid the ever-increasing ranks of “burnout” nurses, try the advice of those who have gone before you, including these simple tips:

Embrace your mentor 

Regardless of the degree awarded, nursing school provides a basic structure for practice. You learn hands-on technique and theory, but it cannot replace actual, bedside experience. Tina Smith, RN, CHPN, a nurse of 27 years who has mentored many hospice RNs, encourages new graduates to build on that framework by identifying a mentor early on.

“Find the nurse who is willing to teach and learn from them,” said Smith, a home care nurse for Gilchrist Hospice Care in Towson, Md., who previously served as the associate clinical director for Gilchrist’s home division.

Respect the power of your license 

All nursing programs provide an introduction to the professional roles and responsibilities affiliated with licensure, but they can’t force you stay current and read state laws after graduation.

The legislation surrounding nursing practice is there for a reason--to protect you while providing safe, evidence-based nursing care. Failure to comply with state licensure laws, such as providing care outside your role of a nurse, can lead to loss of licensure, law suits and even prison time.

Welcome opportunities 

Welcome opportunities, even if they don’t pertain to your chosen career field. One of my many mentors, Sandi Dannunzio, RN, works in the cardiac catheterization laboratory at St. Joseph’s Mercy of Macomb in Michigan. She reflects upon her decades of nursing experience and work as a mentor, and thinks about how she would now advise new grads. “It never hurts to be too educated. Take advantage of every educational opportunity, even if it seems irrelevant now,” Dannunzio said.

Keep learning 

Once upon a time, RN diploma schools were the golden standard for nursing education. These hospital-based training programs now only turn out 20 percent of registered nurses, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) “Findings from the 2008 National Sample Survey.” The majority of nurses enter the field with an associate of science degree (45 percent), followed closely by bachelor’s-prepared nurses (34 percent), per the DHHS.

But more and more employers are looking for nurses with their BSNs, so take the opportunity to get yours, when possible. “You never know when you’re going to want a change or miss a great opportunity because you didn’t reach for that degree.” said Dannunzio.

Furthermore, if you desire more initials behind your name in the form of professional credentialing, you might need a bachelor’s degree. Over this last decade, many of the prestigious specialty certifications, such as the Critical Care Registered Nurse (CCRN) or the National Certified School Nurse (NCSN), require a bachelor’s degree for exam eligibility.

Apply evidence-based skills 

“As a student, you’re trying to learn new techniques in simulation labs and please the instructor--or make the grade. As a new nurse, you may be trying to please the charge nurse or manager. You have to find your own happy medium and not get paralyzed by mistakes,” Smith stated. “Understand that the best action to take is always rooted in evidence-based practice. As you gain experience, you’ll appreciate the driving forces behind nursing practice regulation and learn how to rely on your own intuition.”

Network 

Join professional organizations, such as the American Nurses Association or your own specialty organization, to network with peers, keep abreast of emerging nursing issues and even make a difference in the nursing field through legislation. Likewise, if you have the opportunity to affiliate yourself with academic nursing affiliations, such as the Honor Society for Nurses, take advantage.

Don’t miss out on life 

“You’re never going to look back on life and wish you’d worked more. Don’t place your career over your family--you never get back time with your children after they’re grown or your family once they are gone,” Dannunzio warns. With the myriad opportunities available in nursing, you can seek a position that complements your familial goals as well as your professional ones.

© 2013. AMN Healthcare, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 

Source: NurseZone.com

By: Natalie DiBlasio

From Tampa to Pittsburgh, Chicago to Memphis, comic superheroes are being spotted all over the country -- and they are fighting grime.

On windows, that is.

In their off-hours, Spider-Man, Captain America, and Batman, to name a few, are washing windows at children's hospitals. Their mission? To bring happiness to the youngest of patients.

"We donned the Spider-Man costumes and we rappelled down the side of the buildings," said Harold Connolly, president of Highrise Window Cleaning of Clearwater, Fla. "We knocked on the glass, waved hello – there were a lot of big smiles."

Connolly organized two superhero window-washing sessions at hospitals in Florida so far this year, and he isn't alone. Images of wide-eyed children in awe of their favorite superheroes washing windows have gone viral online, prompting hospitals and window washing companies nationwide to hop on board.

"Some of these poor kids, they don't get a lot of opportunities for anything fun there," Connolly says. "It cheered them up at least for the moment anyway."

Last week in Chicago, Captain America, Batman, and Spider-Man's mission for the day was surprising children into forgetting that they are in hospital beds at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago.

Mission: Complete.

Nolan Erickson, 6, has been spending a lot of time in the hospital with his 14-month-old brother Matthew.

Matthew was born with brain cancer and has undergone six surgeries and five rounds of chemotherapy; the family hasn't left his side.

"We have been in the hospital for 11 months out of the 14 that Matthew has been alive," mother Sue Erickson says. "Nolan has spent his last two birthdays here. Smiles come few and far between."

But on one day – for Nolan, Matthew and their 2-year-old sister Sophia, there was a break from all the sadness.

The three superheroes, window washers from Corporate Cleaning Services, were fighting grime as they rappelled down from the 23rd floor. The heroes circled all around the building, waving, giving a thumbs up and creating soap designs as they went.

"The superheroes' lines were hanging right in front of our window," Erickson says. "The kids just sat there waiting for 45 minutes to see which one it was. It was Spider-Man. When you see your kids excited and smiling – as a parent it was more than I could ever ask for."

Hundreds of kids, staff and families were mesmerized by the superheroes swinging around the building for hours.

"I have been here a lot of years but I have never seen anything like it — nothing can brighten a day like a superhero," says Kathleen Keenan, hospital spokesperson. "These three men truly became real-life superheroes when they were on that building and their ropes became their webs. It was magical."

Keenan added: "It was like each kid had their own superhero for a moment, it was like there was no glass between them."

The superhuman trend is spreading all over the country:

• Le Bonheur Children's Hospital in Memphis, Tenn., has had two visits, one in October from the American National Skyline's superheroes and one in December from elves, says spokesperson Sara Burnett.
• The youngsters at Ministry St. Joseph's Children's Hospital in Marshfield, Wis., got a big surprise in December when Spider-Man, Batman, and Captain America left the place smiling and squeaky clean, says Geoffrey Huys, hospital spokesperson.
• In St. Petersburg, Fla., at least 40 or 50 inpatient children at All Children's Hospital caught a glimpse of Spiderman last month, says hospital spokesperson Roy Adams.

"We try all the time here to make it as fun as possible," Adams says. "We are trying to make kids forget that they are in the hospital and are going through these tough medical issues. We have celebrities come in, but this was a different kind of VIP visit because, well, they were coming down the side of the building."

Last July, Michelle Matuizek, office manager of Allegheny Window Cleaning, Inc., saw pictures of window washers in London dressed as Spiderman.

"I looked around and – at that point - no one had done it in the states," Matuizek says. "I thought why don't we do a character theme for our Children's hospital around Halloween."

So on October 22, the patients at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC had visit from Spider-Man, Batman, Captain American and Superman.

"The kids went wild. They were all over the windows, smiling and screaming – it was just magical," Matuizek says. "The nurses, the kids, the families it was a wonderful experience for everyone. We are going to do it again next October."

Both Allegheny Window Cleaning, Inc and Highrise Window Cleaning have plans to do more superhuman fly-bys in the future, and Connolly hopes the trend catches on.

"The kids—that the important thing," Connolly says. "We are hoping it spreads throughout the country and beyond. Other hospitals see this and then ask your window company if they will do it – I bet you they will. Who doesn't like making children happy?"

Source: USA Today

By: Darnell Lattal 

We’ve all heard it preached — in our corporations and beyond — how we should do the right things in the right way and for the right reasons. Even so, it’s often easier, faster and seems more profitable to take actions that fall in a somewhat gray area — what we’ll call a slippery slope.

Here’s what that could look like in an organizational setting: approving products before quality checks, production rate trumping safe practices, questionable sales made for goods not available, creative accounting to justify mergers, suppressing reporting errors, and the many other small ways we individually fail to keep promises or look away when our gut tells us something is amiss.

If one were to break it down by gender, there is no evidence that women are more likely to behave more ethically than men. But gender research does report more verbal sensitivity to the rights and dignity of others among women when compared to men. For instance, women overwhelmingly report that they would not work for a company that will do anything to win. Still, refusal to select such a workplace doesn’t mean that women in the workplace will behave more ethically than men. What people say they will do has very little predictive validity compared to what they actually do.

Nevertheless, gender is an untapped resource in setting the conditions to behave ethically. Consider the oft-cited stereotype that women are known for their inclination as caregivers and men for their conditioning to reach the end goal. Both are important. Caring is of little value if the corporation fails, and end goals are meaningless if people and the public good are harmed. But if each were to bring their strengths to the table when addressing ethical concerns and help keep each other accountable to do the right thing, we might not read about ethical lapses in the news as often.

So, who is in charge of the organizational ethical compass? The ultimate responsibility rests on the shoulders of those who lead, and diversity executives can help leaders to create an ethical workplace culture by starting with the following steps:

• Encourage leaders to surround themselves with men and women who are committed to supporting ethical actions.

• Make sure there’s a set of values that leaders and employees can look to when facing ethical dilemmas. Craft a sophisticated plan of action to ensure ethics is part of everything from sales meetings to production report to community involvement. Translate values into the varied observable actions that represent those values.

• Provide a forum in which errors and near-misses are reported without negative consequences, but are part of the healthy ethical framework the company is striving to create.

• Examine the consequences for saying and doing the wrong thing — subtle and unintended, overt and intended. Leaders must examine themselves and seek evaluative support from others about what they do that’s trending toward or away from what others deem ethical.

• Arrange practices, processes and incentives of the workplace to shape and maintain ethical decisions from the boardroom to the shop floor.

• Leaders should be open to critique of business strategies and tactics — in some instances it’s acknowledging that the worker in the boiler room may know better than leaders about what is really going on that is ethical or not.

• Encourage use of a scorecard of ethical elements to evaluate how well leaders and employees are doing, jot down what “slippery slopes” they faced and how they might better respond to it going forward.

• Share learning in an active way. Review short-term effects against uncertain but possible longer-term effects. Calibrate and change course where needed.

Source: Diversity Executive 

Are women more ethical than men? What do you think? Let us know with your comments below.

The American Nurses Association (ANA) this week applauded the introduction of federal legislation that empowers registered nurses (RNs) to drive staffing decisions in hospitals and, consequently, protect patients and improve the quality of care. The Registered Nurse Safe Staffing Act of 2013 (H.R. 1821), crafted with input from ANA, has sponsors from both political parties who co-chair the House Nursing Caucus—Reps. David Joyce (R-OH) and Lois Capps (D-CA), a nurse.

"Nurse staffing has a direct impact on patient safety," said ANA president Karen Daley, PhD, RN, FAAN.  "We know that when there are appropriate nurse staffing levels, patient outcomes improve. Determining the appropriate number and mix of nursing staff is critical to the delivery of quality patient care. Federal legislation is necessary to increase protections for patients and ensure fair working conditions for nurses."

Research has shown that higher staffing levels by experienced RNs are linked to lower rates of patient falls, infections, medication errors, and even death, ANA reported. And when unanticipated events happen in a hospital resulting in patient death, injury, or permanent loss of function, inadequate nurse staffing often is cited as a contributing factor.

The bill would require hospitals to establish committees that would create unit-by-unit nurse staffing plans based on multiple factors, such as the number of patients on the unit, severity of the patients’ conditions, experience and skill level of the RNs, availability of support staff, and technological resources.

The safe staffing bill also would require hospitals that participate in Medicare to publicly report nurse staffing plans for each unit. It would place limits on the practice of "floating" nurses by ensuring that RNs are not forced to work on units if they lack the education and experience in that specialty. It also would hold hospitals accountable for safe nurse staffing by requiring the development of procedures for receiving and investigating complaints; allowing imposition of civil monetary penalties for knowing violations; and providing whistle-blower protections for those who file a complaint about staffing.

ANA backed a similar staffing bill in the last Congress. This version includes requirements that a hospital’s staffing committee be comprised of at least 55 percent direct care nurses or their representatives, and that the staffing plans must establish adjustable minimum nurse-to-patient ratios.

Additionally, ANA has advocated for safe staffing conditions for the nation’s RNs through the development and updating of ANA’s Principles for Nurse Staffing, and implementation of a national nursing quality database program that correlates staffing to patient outcomes. 

To date, seven states have passed nurse safe staffing legislation that closely resembles ANA’s recommended approach to ensure safe staffing, utilizing a hospital-wide staffing committee in which direct care nurses have a voice in creating the appropriate staffing levels. Those states are Connecticut, Illinois, Nevada, Ohio, Oregon, Texas, and Washington.

Source: EndoNurse

By Susie Steckner

By: Marsha Van Hecke

People pursue careers in nursing for many reasons: they want to help people, they’re natural caregivers or they want to do some good in the world. The 31 nurses of Hospice of the Carolina Foothills add another reason: It’s truly a ministry.

“Hospice is a calling,” Christina Hughes, RN said, “I knew several years ago that this is what I wanted to do, but watching my father pass that prompted me to make the change.”

Previously, Hughes worked in a skilled nursing facility.

Hospice nurses perform all the tasks you’d expect of nurses in a hospital, clinic or nursing home setting. They draw blood, administer and monitor medications, assess patients’ conditions, review charts, consult with doctors, complete paperwork, and attend staff meetings, among many other typical responsibilities. There’s an added dimension to working as a nurse at hospice.

“Hospice work is more of a team effort, patient and family oriented, putting the patients first always,” says Marla Searcy, RN and Homecare clinical manager in North Carolina.

“And,” adds Monica Pierce, LPN, “we do a lot of education with the families, teaching them how to take care of their loved ones.”

Linda Travers, RN agrees. “HCF allows nurses time to listen to patient feelings and concerns. Teaching family caregivers about disease process, symptom management. Providing comfort and support.”

“Working for Hospice, you are able to spend more time with patients and families,” adds Joanie McDade, RN.

“Having the opportunity to build a relationship with some of the patients here is a gift no other job allows you to have,” says Barry Lowman, RN. “But then when they pass you have a piece of you go with them.”

Developing those close bonds with patients and families is not only an important part of the job, but it’s also one of the most enjoyable. And certain patients find a permanent place in the nurses’ hearts.

“I had one patient who served in Japan for 14 months as a medic. When he saw me, he asked if I was Asian. I told him that my mother was Okinawan and my father American. He began speaking Japanese to me. All throughout his journey of dementia, he continued to speak Japanese to me. There were times he couldn’t remember his wife’s name, but he remembered those few Japanese words,” says Hughes.

Homecare RN, Jennifer Greene tells how a simple gesture of gratitude left a lasting impression on her.

“I was taking care of a patient at the Hospice House and when I would give her any personal care, she would say, ‘Thank you, Mama.’ She would say that to me whenever I took care of her, until she passed.”

Hospice House RN Ashley Crissone fondly remembers the woman with whom she played piano duets.

When Crissy Simpson, RN and Homecare clinical manager in South Carolina, first started at hospice, she found herself facing a potentially difficult situation.

“I was sent to see a patient that lived in a rural community. I was told that he was a very challenging patient, not because of his terminal illness, but because he may not be accepting of my race,” she says, “I went to visit him. He wasn’t rude, but asked a lot of questions to see if I was qualified to take care of him.”

After a few visits, the patient became comfortable with her, and Simpson would give him a big hug right before she left. If she got stuck in traffic and arrived a few minutes late, he would tell her he had been worried about her.

“Every visit he would be sitting in his recliner, facing the door, waiting for me to come, with his beautiful blue eyes,” she says.

As the patient began to decline in health, he asked his wife to buy Simpson a gift, a coffee mug that read, “Thank God for Daughters.”

“From that day, he called me his black daughter and he was my white daddy,” Simpson says, “Some people may be offended by that, but I know I meant a lot to him, and so did he to me.”

On the night he passed away, Simpson sang to him the old gospel song, “I’m Going to Take a Trip,” which she also sang at his funeral.

Just as Simpson goes above and beyond her job duties by singing to patients, other nurses contribute their talents and time outside of work. Jennifer Greene makes jewelry, donating necklaces and bracelets to patients, and Christina Hughes attends special events held at the facilities where she serves.

“One facility had ‘Cowboy Day,’ and the HCF social worker and I dressed up, and attended on our day off. The social worker even brought two of her horses for the patients to see,” says Hughes.

Every nurse has had a special person who inspired him or her to pursue the role of caregiver in life. For some it was another nurse who nurtured and mentored them, or a hospice nurse who ministered to one of their relatives. For others, a special family member encouraged them to follow their hearts. In RN Crystal Mitchell’s case, it was both. Her favorite aunt is a nurse and from a very young age, she would visit her at work in the hospital. Now, it seems, Mitchell is paying it forward.

“I’ve known since I was four I’ve wanted to be a nurse from watching her with her patients,” Mitchell says of her aunt. “I have had a similar role to a family friend who is like a little sister, and she is now a pediatric oncology nurse. I never knew I was the reason she wanted to be a nurse until later. How jaw-dropping it was to find out how much my work had influenced her by God’s grace.”

While working for hospice brings nurses many jovial moments, they also deal with the sobering reality of death every day. For that reason, many people hold them in high regard and wonder how they handle such a job.

RN case manager, Kim Griffey shares how people react when she tells them where she works.

“They always say that it takes a certain person to do your job, that they couldn’t do it. I always reply, ‘It’s very rewarding.’”

When asked what is the most important characteristic or skill needed to be a hospice nurse, one word comes up repeatedly.

Lowman and Travers and Pam Essman, RN, come right to the point.

“Compassion,” they say.

“The most important characteristic you need to be successful in hospice is compassion. It’s not always the physical symptoms that you’re relieving, but also the patient’s and family’s psychological pain,” says Simpson.

When hospice nurses go to work every day, they’re not simply going to a job. They’re going to touch someone’s life. They hold patients’ hands, celebrate patients’ birthdays, play games, share stories, help patients create their life stories to leave for their families, offer comfort, a smile, a laugh, and, in some cases, a song.

“I have had so many patients say they look forward to the hospice nurse’s visit. What greater reward in life can we have than to put a little sunshine in someone’s day, maybe their last day,” Searcy says.

Source: Tyron Daily Bulletin

Losing weight is never easy. Every pound you shed is the direct result of your dedication to healthy eating and regular exercise. To commemorate the 100th episode of The Dr. Oz Show, Dr. Oz welcomed 100 individuals who had lost over 100 lbs each – and each member of the “Oz 100” shared their #1 tip for weight loss. 

Whether you are trying to lose a few pounds or 100, there are some surprising secrets you may not know. Test your weight-loss know-how with The Oz 100 Ultimate Weight Loss Quiz.

Click here for The Oz 100 Ultimate Weight Loss Quiz

Source: Doctor Oz 

An overwhelming majority (90%) of our nation's middle-income Americans say they are not financially prepared for a critical illness diagnosis, according to a new study released by Washington National Institute for Wellness Solutions (IWS).

The study, Middle-Income America's Perspectives on Critical Illness and Financial Security, which surveyed 1,001 Americans ages 30 to 66 with an annual household income of between $35,000 and $99,999, found that only 1-in-10 feels strongly confident they have enough savings to cover family emergencies and handle the financial implications of a critical illness.

Middle-income Americans today face a significant risk of being diagnosed with one or more critical illnesses--including cancer, heart disease, stroke and Alzheimer's disease. For the majority, a critical illness diagnosis can be life-changing both financially and personally.

Level of personal savings

If diagnosed with a critical illness, most middle-income Americans say they would be forced to draw on savings to pay for out-of-pocket expenses not covered by insurance. But according to the study, many have little, if any, savings to fall back on:

   -- 75% have less than $20,000 in savings 
 
   -- 50% have less than $2,000 in savings 
 
   -- 25% have no current savings 

Resources used to pay critical illness costs

To pay for critical illness costs, middle-income Americans say they would need to use credit cards (28%) or loans from family/friends (23%) or financial institutions (19%) to offset expenses not covered by health insurance. Another one-fourth (23%) say they simply "don't know" what resources they would use to help offset their expenses. Millennials and Gen Xers anticipate greater reliance on credit cards and loans to pay for critical illness expenses.

Perception of financial impact of critical illness

Americans believe that the financial impact of a critical illness can be lasting. Thirty-eight percent believe they might never financially recover from a battle with cancer and 45% believe they would never recover financially from an Alzheimer's/dementia diagnosis.

Despite the vulnerability in financial preparedness for critical illness, few middle-income Americans have had meaningful discussions about potential care-giving options or financial planning for critical illness. Eighty-eight percent have had no conversations with loved ones or advisers about potential care-giving options and 60% have not discussed financial planning for critical illness. Only 12% have actively explored care-giving options.

"Educate yourself about the real-life costs of critical illness," said Barbara Stewart, President of Washington National Insurance Company. "Find out what your current insurance will--and will not--cover, and then assess your overall financial health. Identify the gaps between the resources you would need and the options already available to you."

Methodology

Middle-Income America's Perspectives on Critical Illness and Financial Security, a study from the Washington National Institute for Wellness Solutions, was conducted in January 2013 by Zeldis Research, an independent research firm. The full report can be viewed at WNInstituteforWellness.com.

A cross-generational nationwide sample of 1,001 middle-income Americans ages 30 to 66 with an annual household income of between $35,000 and $99,999 participated in the internet-based survey. Females and males each represented approximately 50% of survey participants.

None of the respondents had ever been diagnosed with any of the following critical illnesses: Alzheimer's disease or dementia, cancer, heart disease, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, and stroke. Respondents were excluded if they had Medicare, Medicaid or Medicare supplement insurance. Significant subsample differences were tested at the 95% confidence level.

About the Washington National Institute for Wellness Solutions

The Institute for Wellness Solutions is Washington National's research and consumer education program. The organization sponsors studies and supports awareness campaigns to help Americans meet the challenges of critical illnesses. Specifically, the institute provides insight and practical advice about wellness and illness prevention, illness care and treatment, and managing the total costs--financial and personal--of critical illnesses. To learn more, visit WNInstituteforWellness.com.

Washington National, a subsidiary of CNO Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE: CNO), has helped Americans since 1911 to protect themselves and their families from the financial hardship that often comes with critical illnesses, accidents and loss of life. The company remains dedicated to helping middle-income Americans who work hard and want to protect themselves and their loved ones. To learn more, visit WashingtonNational.com.

SOURCE: Washington National Institute for Wellness Solutions

The U.S. is currently seeing a physician shortage that will only continue to rise and affect medical practices all over the country. By 2020, the American Association of Medical Colleges (AAMC) estimates there will be a shortage of more than 90,000 physicians, and that number will grow to 130,000 by 2025.

To solve this problem, many healthcare providers are turning to Nurse Practitioners (NPs) and Physician Assistants (PAs). While many people believe NPs and PAs are unable care for patients as well as physicians, studies have found that to be untrue.  Victoria Garment, editor at SoftwareAdvice.com--a website that presents reviews and ratings of healthcare technology-- explains:

“Decades of studies have demonstrated that, when permitted to practice to the full extent of their training, NPs and PAs can perform a majority of the tasks that physicians do while providing the same quality of care.”

These tasks can include performing physical exams, diagnosing and treating conditions such as diabetes or high blood pressure, writing prescriptions, order diagnostic tests and more. Additionally, “while PAs cannot practice independently of physicians, there are approximately 250 practices across the U.S. that are run solely by NPs,” Garment said.

Another benefit of hiring NPs and PAs is the significant cost savings:

• Reduced salary expenses - The average base salary of a physician is more than double that of NPs and PAs.
• Lower overhead costs - Studies show PAs require lower overhead costs than physicians by department, patient demographics and medical care resource use, resulting in a $30,000 boost to the bottom line.
• Lower costs of care - The costs of NP-managed practices have been found to be 23 percent below physician-managed practices. This can lead to statewide savings of $4.2-$8.4 billion.
• Higher patient volumes - Another study found that adding an NP to a practice can double patient numbers and boost yearly revenue by $1.65 million per 100,000 enrollees.
• Reduced insurance and liability costs - Not only is a PA’s liability risk cost one-third of a physician’s, but NPs also have much lower rates of malpractice claims and lower costs per claim.

What’s more, patients often report having an equal or even better experience with an NP or PA compared to a physician. A survey by Medscape found that 80 percent of patients felt NPs “always” listened while carefully compared to 50 percent of physician patients. Similarly, the Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research released a report that said PA patients ranked their satisfaction levels between 89 to 96 percent for the quality of care they received in the areas of interpersonal care, confidence in the provider and understanding of patient problems.

With all the benefits that NPs and PAs bring, they can be a great addition or alternative to any medical practice, especially those experiencing physician shortages.

To read the full report on The Profitable Practice blog, visit: “Nurse Practitioners and Physician Assistants: Why You Should Hire One (or the Other).”