A comparative study of physicians' and nurses' conceptions of the role of the nurse practitioner.

Abstract

Attempts to define the role of the nurse practitioner as a new health care provider raise questions about the traditional health care division of labor. In order to determine nurses' and physicians' conceptions of the NP's role, parallel surveys were conducted among registered nurses and primary care physicians in southeastern Pennsylvania (including Philadelphia). Respondents (679 nurses and 597 physicians) indicated their opinions on the issue of autonomy for NPs and on the issue of specific tasks appropriate to the NP's role. There were significant differences between nurses and physicians with respect to both of the issues under consideration, but there were also important dif- ferences within each of these groups. Nurses were more likely to assert that an NP might practice independently, and also had a higher conception of the NP's capabilities. Physicians who were interested in employing a nurse practitioner had opinions which were closest to those of nurses. These findings suggest that conflict between nurses and physicians might be minimal as long as the nurse practitioner movement remains relatively small, but that there may be latent conflict inherent in any large scale attempt to change the health care division of labor at the present time. (Am. J. Public Health 68:1090-1096, 1978 of a survey of nurse practitioner preparatory programs which describes them as reflecting "the broadest possible range" with respect to program content.'0 While some types of nurse practitioner, such as nurse-midwives and pediatric nurse practitioners, have enjoyed a relatively long tradition, there is still a good deal of flux and ambiguity in the field in general.The issue of professional autonomy-particularly the proper relationship of NPs to physicians-has been raised in several attempts to gain legislative sanction for increased independence for these new health care providers. Virtually all states still perpetuate "the traditional view that in the overlap between medicine and nursing the nurse acts in a dependent capacity,"11 but this issue is far from settled, and questions about the proper measure of autonomy for nurse practitioners continue to be raised.Previous research on the NP's role has fallen into two basic categories-case studies of the division of labor be-

Beginning the Socialization to a New Workforce Model: Dental Students’ Preliminary Knowledge of and Attitudes About the Role of the Dental Therapist

“…[5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21] However, physicians' receptivity to and acceptance of these providers took decades to develop, and barriers to collaboration still exist. [22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31] Clarin performed an extensive literature review to determine common barriers to effective physician and nurse practitioner collaboration. 4 The literature on current attitudes of physicians toward nurse practitioners (NPs) and physician's assistants (PAs) reveals that increased interaction among physicians and NPs/PAs combined with physicians' having close working relationships with NPs/PAs positively affects physicians' attitudes toward them.…”

The Attitudes of Rural Minnesota Family Physicians Toward Nurse Practitioners and Physician Assistants

“…Previous studies have found differences in physicians' attitudes toward nonphysician providers based on the physician's type of practice, size of community, and age (Banahan & Sharpe, 1979;Burkett, Parken-Harris, Kuhn, & Escovitz, 1978;Little, 1978aLittle, , 1978b. Based on these findings, data from this survey were analyzed searching for meaningful differences between respondents based on community size, years in practice, age, and experience with nonphysician providers.…”

“…In Minnesota, those figures are even higher-53.1 percent of physician assistants specialize in family practice and 75 percent of nurse practitioners are either adult nurse practitioners or family nurse practitioners (American Academy of Physician Assistants [AAPA], 1993; American Nurses Association [ANA], 1995). The working relationships between primary care physicians and nonphysician providers are still evolving, even after more than 25 years of interaction (Borland, Williams, & Taylor, 1972;Burkett, Parken-Harris, Kuhn, & Escovitz, 1978;Lawrence, DeFriese, Putnam, Pickard, Cyr, & Whiteside, 1977;McGivem, Mezey, & Glynn, 1990). Today, these relationships are described by some as very cooperative but by others as highly competitive (Jennings & Towers, 1994;McGrath, 1990).…”

Knowledge and attitudes of primary care physicians toward the nurse practitioner role in the Kingdom of Bahrain

“…Previous studies have shown that physician attitudes toward NPs are influenced by knowledge about the role, type of practice, and previous exposure to the NP role (Banahan & Sharp, 1979; Burkett, Parken‐Harris, Kuhn, & Escovitz, 1978). Physicians who had experience working with NPs, when compared to those physicians who had no prior experience with NPs, had more positive attitudes toward the role of the NP and believed in the NPs’ abilities to enhance the provision of primary care services.…”