CHC Radio

Nurse Practitioners: A Growing Opportunity

Originally broadcast December 12, 2024

Nurse practitioners, at 385,000 strong in the U.S., are increasingly seen as a key part of the solution to the primary care provider shortage. What are the challenges and opportunities to ensure everyone can get the care they need when they need it? Our guest is the president of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners, Stephen Ferrara, DNP. He also serves as the inaugural associate dean of artificial intelligence and a professor of nursing at the Columbia University School of Nursing.

Hosts Mark Masselli and Margaret Flinter (who has been a family nurse practitioner for many years) discuss the opportunities for Ferrara and his members as they seek to expand what’s called “scope of practice.” In fact, the percentage of medical visits handled by health care providers other than physicians nearly doubled between 2013 and 2019, with many of those patients seen by nurse practitioners.

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