National Nurse Practitioner Week highlights primary care shortage
If you haven’t already heard about it from the nurse practitioners (NP) at your organization, this week is National Nurse Practitioner (NP) Week. NPs are harnessing their spotlight to shine the light on the shortage of primary care providers in America—and how their work force can help combat that shortage.
The theme for the week is “Nurse Practitioners – 125,000 Solutions to the Primary Care Shortage.” The American Academy of Nurse Practitioners (AANP) offers a resource guide on its Web site explaining why this year’s theme was chosen.
“The shortage of primary care providers is a hot topic in the healthcare reform debate. NP Week is a good opportunity to showcase the many ways that NPs are the primary care providers of choice for many patients and to let others in your community know about the value of NP-delivered primary care,” the AANP states.
Be sure to wish the NPs on your medical staff a happy National Nurse Practitioner’s Week!
About the Author: Emily Berry is an associate editor at HCPro in the credentialing market. In addition to managing information on CRC she writes the Briefings on Credentialing newsletter and the Credentialing Resource Center Connection weekly email newsletter. A native of Ohio, she graduated from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland before moving east to attain her MS degree in journalism from Boston University.
Linda Haack | Nov 13, 2009 | Reply
Nurse practitioners are indeed a growing segment of the practitioners being utilized in health care. Unfortunately, this has caused a real burden on credentialing organizations as the cost of verifying their certifications is expensive compared to other health care professionals as well as a very slow process, often resulting in delays in employment for the NP and staffing for the hiring organization.
I currently pay seven times more for NP certification than I do for physicians annually. The NPs need to pressure their certifying organizations to stop treating us like cash cows and serve the NP interests better. Why is PA cert verification free and instant and NP is $40 and takes days or weeks?
Pam Kelly | Dec 18, 2009 | Reply
when is National Nurse Practitioners Week in 2010?
Emily Berry | Dec 18, 2009 | Reply
Hi Pam,
I couldn’t find the answer to your question on the AANP Web site, but I think National Nurse Practitioner Week happens around the same time every year. If you check back on the AANP’s Web site next fall, it will probably have the specific dates listed.
Thanks