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Physician Readiness for Nurse Practitioners in the Emergency Department

Background: Emergency Department (ED) overcrowding is a national healthcare problem, and despite awareness and efforts to alleviate excessive patient volume, it continues to be an epidemic. One improvement technique proposed is to increase employment of independently licensed APRNs in the ED.
Objective: The objective of this study was to determine if LMC and USACS physicians are willing and ready to implement and collaborate with NPs in the ED.
Design and Methods: A non-experimental descriptive study design was employed, and sixty emergency medicine providers were surveyed. Eighteen participants (14 MDs, 4 DOs) completed an online questionnaire which consisted of 21 Likert-style questions, an open-ended question, and six demographic questions.
Research questions: 1) What are physician perceptions regarding the tasks and resources required for NPs to practice in emergency medicine? 2) What are physician perceptions regarding the need, importance, and benefits of NPs in the ED? 3) What are physician perceptions of contextual factors regarding NPs’ working in the organization?
Results: Entire Questionnaire: Mean = 2.02 (SD = .35); Subscale 1: Mean = 2.13 (SD = .33); Subscale 2: Mean = 1.79 (SD = .48); Subscale 3: Mean = 2.06 (SD = .49).
Conclusion: This study concludes that, overall, there is a readiness to change among the USACS physicians. Evaluation of subscale 2 and 3 from this study indicates that USACS physicians are willing and ready to implement an NP service in LMC's ED. Furthermore, while discrepancies occurred in subscale 1, these differences can be mitigated through education, credentialing requirements, and policy development.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:arizona.edu/oai:arizona.openrepository.com:10150/625666
Date January 2017
CreatorsMcGee, Angela Ann, McGee, Angela Ann
ContributorsMcRee, Laura, McRee, Laura, Reed, Pamela G., Davis, Mary Patricia
PublisherThe University of Arizona.
Source SetsUniversity of Arizona
Languageen_US
Detected LanguageEnglish
Typetext, Electronic Dissertation
RightsCopyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author.

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