Rural and urban physicians' perceptions regarding the role and practice of the nurse practitioner, physician assistant, and certified nurse midwife

摘要

Context: There is a dearth of literature citing the differences in rural and urban physicians' perceptions of the role and practice of nurse practitioners, physician assistants, and certified nurse midwives (non-physician providers). Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate and compare differences, if any, between rural and urban primary care physicians' perceptions of the role and practice of nonphysician providers. Results: Despite a 15.55 percent response rate using a mail-out survey in South Carolina, data from 681 rural and urban primary care physicians indicated that they perceived that non-physician providers possess the necessary skills and knowledge to provide primary care to patients, are an asset to a physician's practice,free the physician's time to handle more critically ill patients, and increase revenue for the practice, but increase the risk of patient care mistakes and a physician's time in administrative duties. Urban physicians' mean scores were higher for perceiving that nonphysician providers are able to see as many patients in a given day as a physician but experience impediments in the delivery of patient care. Conclusions: Results will be used to clarify physicians' perceptions regarding the role and practice of nonphysician providers to reduce impediments to patient care access.