NPs Joining Primary Care Increases
NPs Joining Primary Care Increases for First Time in 2 Decades
For 2 decades the number of licensed nurse practitioners (NPs) in the US joining primary care had been on decline. However, the latest data released by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) revealed a reverse of the trend.
According to the report, almost half of recently licensed NPs joined the primary care workforce in 2012. The National Sample Survey of Nurse Practitioners showed that while 59% of graduating NPs worked in primary care in 1992, that decreased to just 42% between 2003 and 2007.
The latest report found 47% of recently licensed NPs (graduating in 2008) entered primary care, where the median salary for NPs was $82,000. There were a total of 154,000 licensed NPs practicing in the US in 2012.
HRSA Administrator Mary K. Wakefield, PhD, RN, said in a statement that the national growth of primary care NPs is very encouraging.
The report also found that 76% of NPs maintained certification in family, adult, pediatric, or gerontology (all within the primary care specialty). Nearly half have a family NP certification. According to the survey results, more than half of the workforce worked in ambulatory care settings, with nearly a third practicing in hospitals.
Overall, NPs are very satisfied with their jobs, particularly when it came to their level of autonomy, the time spent in patient care, their sense of value for what they do, and the respect they got from physicians and colleagues.