Veterans' perceptions of care by nurse practitioners, physician assistants, and physicians: A comparison from satisfaction surveys

Abstract

The VHA is the largest healthcare system and the single largest employer of NPs and PAs in the country. This study shows that a majority of the primary care clinic patients prefer to see NPs as compared with PAs and physicians. Besides clinical care, NPs focus on health promotion, disease prevention, health education, attentiveness, and counseling. Physicians and PAs should be educated on these characteristics to promote patient satisfaction and expected outcomes.

A Description of Nurse Practitioners’ Self-Report Implementation of Patient-Centered Care

“…In particular, nurse practitioners' implementation of holistic care has been identified as a key aspect of their role in the enactment of the Chronic Care Model of Disease Management; the nurse practitioners addressed the patients' concerns and barriers to adherence and arranged for access to needed services [5]. This is additionally demonstrated by their assessment and monitoring of symptoms, as well as their provision of information on the symptoms and symptom management strategies [35]; attendance to patients' educational [29], physical and psychosocial [31] needs and in getting to know patients as individuals and not just remaining content with a knowledge of the patients' disease profile alone [36]. In the present study, about half of the nurse practitioners indicated that they provide education regarding health promotion and self-management on a frequent basis, which differs from what has been reported in the literature [6].…”

“…This component of PCC has been commonly assessed in terms of the extent of individualizing healthcare. Nurse practitioners have been found to provide flexible, individualized care, that is compatible with the health condition, goals and life experiences of patients with chronic illnesses [4]; to listen actively to patients' concerns and to individualize care [29,31,36].…”

“…A few quantitative and qualitative studies were conducted to explore nurse practitioners' practices that may account for positive outcomes observed. The findings suggested that nurse practitioners deliver comprehensive care based on a thorough assessment and understanding of a patient's condition; spend time in providing education to patients related to their presenting problem and to self-management; involve patients in their own care and in care-related decisions and manage the healthcare system to ensure provision of services that patients need [5,6,[28][29][30]. Sidani [31] examined the extent to which nurse practitioners provide PCC in acute care settings.…”

Mentoring Nurse Practitioners in a Hospital Setting

“…These results are found in many areas of NP practice including hospital-based emergency departments, inpatient, and primary care settings (Bevis et al, 2008;Budzi et al, 2010;Cooper, Lindsay, Kinn, & Swan, 2002;Guzik et al, 2009;Kleinpell et al, 2008;Lin et al, 2002;Mundinger et al, 2000;Sakr et al, 1999). While studies exploring patient satisfaction with NPs in primary care abound, there is a limited number of studies evaluating patient satisfaction in the hospital setting.…”

“…The care provided by NPs for various patient populations seems to be equivalent to the quality of care provided by medical staff (Bevis et al, 2008;Budzi et al, 2010;Guzik et al, 2009;Kleinpell et al, 2008;Mundinger, et al, 2000;Pioro et al, 2001;Sakr et al, 1999). Nurse practitioners working in emergency departments provide care for a variety of patients and have to perform numerous procedures.…”