Careers & Training


Shortage sets up nurse practitioners for growth


■ Nurse practitioners are caught in a perfect storm. Baby boomers are aging when


geriatricians are in short supply. Federal reform is on the verge of making 30 million- plus people eligible for health care coverage. State maps are pockmarked with holes in the availability of primary care. In many areas, physicians are hard-


pressed to meet increasing demands, and nurse practitioners are stepping up to fill potentially dangerous gaps in care. “The world is our oyster,” said Marcia


Jackson, MPA, MSN, FNP, a nurse practitioner at the IU Health Lifecare Program. An RN since 1980, Jackson has been an NP since 1998 and, at one point in her career, operated a private practice. She has become an advocate for the profession, serving on the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners board and as public affairs liaison for the Coalition of Advanced Practice Nurses of Indiana. She speaks passionately about NPs,


Carolyn Harris, a nurse practitioner at Hendricks Regional Health’s Partners in Care Clinic in Danville, serves about 15 patients daily as their primary health care provider.


FRANK ESPICH / The Star Learn more Find out more about the specific roles and duties of Carolyn Harris and other nurse practitioners on Page 18. Indiana Nursing Quarterly • indystar.com/nursing • Spring 2011 15


characterizing their role as essential to the nation’s health. No study comparing NPs to physicians has found poorer outcomes from care


provided by the former, Jackson claims, but studies do show that NP care is more cost effective “because of the way we practice.”


Going where physicians don’t | Availability is a big advantage that NPs repeatedly cite as part of their role in the health care field. “Even in our relatively small state, we


don’t have enough (primary care) providers to provide the services needed,” Jackson said. The County Health Rankings report


released in March shows that three Indiana counties — Crawford, Ohio and Switzerland — have no primary care physicians. The report, a collaboration of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute, lists an additional 12 counties that have fewer than 10 primary care physicians apiece. Only six Indiana counties are reported to meet or beat the targeted 631- to-1 ratio of people to providers. On average, Indiana has 889 people for every one primary care provider.


‘Pretty healthy’ environment | States differ over what types of health care NPs can provide.


Continued on Page 17


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24