(Student’s Full Name)
Laurie Scudder’s article, “Growth of the Nurse Practitioner Workforce” forecasts the growth of the Nurse Practitioner (NP) workforce during the period of 2008 to 2025. The writer explains that the growth of the NP workforce is necessary to combat the shortage of primary care physicians that is expected to worsen in the healthcare system. This will be influenced by the increased demand for primary care physicians after the “Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act” is implemented (Scudder, 2012, para. 1). However, “internal dynamics” have contributed to widely differing forecasts for “growth in the NP workforce” (Scudder, 2012, para. 1). As a result of this, the researcher saw the need to reveal a “novel method” that has been used to “project registered nurse (RN) and physician workforces” (Scudder, 2012, para. 1).
Scudder (2012) used the National Sample Survey of Registered Nurses (NSSRN) of 2008 to determine the growth of the NP workforce, which grew rapidly from 1992 to 2004. On the other hand, the survey revealed that the growth of the NP workforce between 2004 to 2008 slowed down significantly. The study indicates that the currently the number of NPs working in the healthcare system, amongst the registered nurses (RN) population, has slowed recently (Scudder, 2012, para. 3).
The writer reveals that the ratio between physicians and NPs which is 5:1 will decrease to 3: 1 by 2025 (Scudder, 2012, para. 8). The ratio decreases even further, when one considers the number of NPs currently practicing in primary care to physicians, to 4:1 to only 2.3: 1 (Scudder, 2012, para. 8). The researcher suggests that removal of “scope-of-practice” barriers for all “advanced nurses” so as to permit these nursing professionals to practice to “the full extent of their education and training” (Scudder, 2012, para. 8).
Reference
Scudder, L. (2012, April 12). Growth of the Nurse Practitioner: Will the NP Workforce Grow in the Future? Retrieved July 25, 2015, from http://journals.lww.com/lww- medicalcare/Abstract/2012/07000/Will_the_NP_Workforce_Grow_in_the_Future___ New.8.aspx
