Nurse practitioners a growing presence in rural America - Entrepreneur Generations

Need medical care in rural America? Chances are you might see a nurse practioner instead of a doctor. Partly because of regulatory changes that make it easier for NPs to operate, they now account for 25 percent of medical care providers in U.S. rural practices; a 43.2 percent increase from 2008 to 2016. according to a recently published study.

"These gains can be attributed in part to changes in state regulations under so-called 'scope of practice' laws that increasingly favor direct access by patients to nurse practitioners," Bruce Japsen reports for Forbes. "There are now 22 U.S. states plus the District of Columbia and Guam that have full practice authority for NPs and many of them eased scope of practice laws in recent years."

That flexibility is helpful in rural areas that have had a hard time attracting enough doctors. NPs can perform a wide range of primary care functions, freeing up doctors for the difficult cases.

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from The Rural Blog https://ift.tt/2sC0Doz Nurse practitioners a growing presence in rural America - Entrepreneur Generations

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