Healthcare Staffing Report: Oct. 3, 2013

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Nurse practitioners may be among most satisfied

Nurse practitioners may be among the most satisfied healthcare workers in the country, according to research released by Staff Care, a physician and nurse practitioner staffing division of AMN Healthcare Inc. (NYSE: AMN).

A survey of nurse practitioners by Staff Care found that 99 percent are optimistic about the future of their profession, 96 percent would choose to be a nurse practitioner if they had their careers to do over and 97 percent would recommend becoming a nurse practitioner to their children or other young people.

The survey included 222 nurse practitioners and took place at the American Association of Nurse Practitioners annual meeting in Las Vegas.

“All the signs for nurse practitioners are pointing upward,” said Michelle Hoogerwerf, vice president of marketing for Staff Care’s Advanced Practice Division. “Their services are in demand and their role as an integral part of the healthcare delivery team is expanding.”

Comparable research of physicians by AMN division Merritt Hawkins, found that only 13 percent are optimistic about the future of medicine and only 42 percent would recommend medicine as a career to their children or other young people.

Many physicians have seen their clinical autonomy and their reimbursements decline in recent years while many nurse practitioners experienced the opposite trends, according to Hoogerwerf

However, supply of nurse practitioners may be tightening. The nurse practitioner survey found 75 percent believe there is a national shortage of nurse practitioners and only 23 percent said there is an adequate supply. In addition, 80 percent said they are overworked and overextended or are at full capacity.