Nursing

Family Nurse Practitioners: Improving Quality of Care

A study published in 1976 helped to establish the meaningful difference between family nurse practitioners and traditional health care providers such as doctors and nurses. Patients reported higher satisfaction with family nurse practitioners than with traditional providers, revealing the need to integrate family nurse practitioners into the repertoire of care (Linn, 1976). Because of research like this, the value of the nurse practitioner and the family nurse practitioner in particular has been highlighted in the scholarly literature as well as in anecdotal practice.

Part of the reason for the increased awareness of the role the family nurse practitioner fulfills is the improvements in overall quality of nursing care and delivery of services. This is because the nursing profession has become fully distinct from the medical profession in ways that are well articulated. As McDowell (1984) notes, "The values of nursing must not...
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