A couple weeks ago CNN asked readers who should fill the ''doctor'' shortage. Nine responses are now posted on CNNMoney.com -- two from NPs, three from physicians and one each from a med student, a PA, an EMT and a consumer. Everyone but the EMT address the question of the role of NPs and PAs in primary care. The consumer loves NPs and ...

The American Academy of Nurse Practitioners (AANP) has produced a wonderful informational video promoting nurse practitioners -- and they released it first on Google and YouTube. Less than 24 hours after its release, the YouTube version had more than 250 hits. Take a look. The organization's director of communication Nancy McMurrey told ADVANCE ...

Monday's Bismark (N.D.) Tribune ran a positive article introducing the role of nurse practitioners with a DNP to the public. ''Nurse Who Is Also a Doctor'' featured nurse practitioner Stacey Pfenning, who has a doctor of nursing practice degree. Although the article might lead to some confusion among careful readers about whether a DNP expands an ...

''You may not know it, but the person you see at the doctor's office may be a nurse practitioner and not a physician,'' reads the opening line of an article in Rochester, Minn.'s news channel web site (''Nurse practitioners help patients more often'' - http://www.kttc.com/Global/story.asp?S=9054490).  The article does a good job of depicting the ...

The New York Times reports that trendspotter Faith Popcorn also follows trends. She sees a nurse practitioner: '''I see a nurse practitioner,' rather than a doctor [said Popcorn], 'unless there’s really a problem. I also wait a little longer before I seek help, in case nature cures the ill.'''

My parents retired a few years ago and moved to a ''55 and older'' community on the east coast. They know all their neighbors, and everyone knows everyone else's health status, who sees which health care providers, and every provider's business practices. My dad's quick recovery from knee replacement surgery convinced a neighbor a block over to ...

A nice article about nurse practitioners showed up in the New York City edition of yesterday's New York Times. Although titled ''Yes, the P.A. Will See You Now,'' the article looks at both physician assistant and NP roles, and it does a good job covering education, salary and job experience. The reporter does once refer to NPs and PAs as ...

Last year at this time, I attended the signing of a key law expanding NP privileges in Pennsylvania. Milling about before the ceremony, I was buttonholed by a dental hygienist hoping to spread the word about the valuable work those practitioners do. Gov. Rendell was signing another law that day eliminating the legal requirement that dental ...

The article starts out promising good PR for nurse practitioners: ''Peggy O'Donnell, a Lynbrook nurse practitioner, knows a thing or two about picking a good primary care physician.'' This is O'Donnell's opportunity to explain that an NP often can be your primary care provider — and even better, that there are studies that show that NP care is ...

Family nurse practitioner Anne Boston Parish, owner of Queen Street Clinic in Alexandria, Va., has just published a book outlining the secrets of her clinic's success. Confronting America's Health Care Crisis: Establishing a Clinic for the Medically Uninsured (AuthorHouse 2008) recounts how Parish started her clinic with a mortgage on her home and ...