American College of Physicians. (2009). Nurse practitioners in primary care. Philadelphia: American College of Physicians.
This is a policy monograph compiled by a group of medical doctors, professional nurse practitioners, and policy-makers/analysts. This policy monograph, which also serves as a position paper explores the expanding roles of nurse practitioners brought about by the shortages of physicians, both anticipated and actual, in the provision of primary care. Here, the paper explores different issues including the scope of practice, prescriptive authority, and the third-party reimbursement in the nurse practitioner profession. Besides reviewing current journal articles regarding the general roles of nurse practitioners, the paper recognizes the need for nurse practitioners to team up with physicians in providing high-quality and patient-centered care. As a result, this paper provides useful information needed to complete the current project in that it serves as an additional resource that describes the roles of nurse practitioners in the physician-nurse practitioner teams. This is in recognition of the fact that the future of the healthcare sector depends on the development of resourceful and multidisciplinary physician-nurse practitioner teams (American College of Physicians, 2009, pp. 1-23).
American Medical Association. (2009). Nurse practitioners. Chicago: American Medical Association.
This module written by the American Medical Association in conjunction with the Missouri State Medical Association, the American Academy of Family Physicians and the American Osteopathic Association explores the demographics, education and training, licensure and regulation, professional organization, and current literature regarding nurse practitioners and other limited licensure healthcare practitioners. The information provided in this article is credible and useful in the completion of the nursing practicum project. For instance, the article provides an elaborate account on the nurse practitioner profession including the general duties/responsibilities and specialization of the nurse practitioners. Accordingly, this information can serve as the starting point in writing the current project. Furthermore, the article explores the most current literature regarding the general roles of nurse practitioners, which provides useful insights into the expanding roles of nurse practitioners occasioned by the changing trends in the healthcare industry (American Medical Association, 2009, pp. 1-142).
Hansen-Turton, T., Ryan, S., Miller, K., Counts, M., & Nash, D.B. (2007). Convenient Care Clinics: The future of accessible health care. Disease Management, 10(2), 61-73.
This article is written by professional nurse practitioners and medical doctors. In this article, the authors recognize the role played by convenient care clinics (CCCs) in actualizing the United States’ mission to provide high-quality, affordable, and accessible health care to the public. In CCCs, patients expect the same level of services including emergency services as those offered by conventional healthcare facilities. As a result, CCCs can be staffed by physicians, physician assistants, and primarily by nurse practitioners. Accordingly, this article explores the role of nurse practitioners in CCCs including the provision of emergency healthcare services. Therefore, this article will be very useful in the completion of the current project especially in providing insights into the role of nurse practitioners not only in the conventional emergency room setting, but also in the CCCs’ model of emergency rooms (Hansen-Turton et al., 2007, pp. 61-73).
Holleman, J., Johnson, A., & Frim, D.M. (2010). The impact of a ‘Resident Replacement’ Nurse Practitioner on an academic pediatric neurosurgical service. Pediatr Neurosurg., 46, 177-181.
This paper provides the results of a survey conducted by professional researchers drawn from the pediatric neurosurgery section in the University of Chicago Children’s Hospital. In this study, the researchers determined the role and the impact of introducing a pediatric nurse practitioner to a neurosurgical training program to compensate for the 80-hour workweek restriction program for resident doctors. The survey sampled the responses of physicians, nurses, and other care providers regarding the rate of satisfaction before and after the inclusion of the nurse practitioner. The results of the study show that the inclusion of the nurse practitioner in the pediatric neurosurgical service provides positive outcomes in terms of patient satisfaction and allowing the residents more time for their academic training. The most important role of nurse practitioners captured in this study is the provision of bedside clinical care in the absence of the resident doctor. As a result, this article provides additional information regarding the changing roles of nurse practitioners in the emergency rooms (Holleman, Johnson, & Frim, 2010, pp. 177-181).
Wilson, A., & Shifaza, F. (2008). An evaluation of the effectiveness and acceptability of nurse practitioners in an adult emergency department. International Journal of Nursing Practice, 14, 149-156.
This article provides the results of a survey conducted by registered nurses with the aim of investigating the level of acceptability and effectiveness of services provided by nurse practitioners in an adult emergency department. The results of the study show that most patients are satisfied with the quality of services offered by nurse practitioners in the emergency department. Furthermore, improvements were noted in terms of the flow of patients through the department. Despite utilizing a descriptive-explanatory study design, this survey reviews the most recent studies, and therefore, provides an up-to-date account on the expanding role of nurse practitioners particularly the role of maintaining patient satisfaction and clinical quality in the emergency department. As a result, this article is useful in the completion of the current project in that it provides important insights into the role of nurse practitioners in the emergency departments (Wilson & Shifaza, 2010, pp. 149-156).