NURSE PRACTITIONERS AND PHYSICIAN ASSISTANTS - DO THEY HAVE A ROLE INYOUR PRACTICE

During the next decade, pediatricians will confront the difficult chal lenge of providing quality health care services to more children with more diverse and difficult problems, and they will have little or no a dditional funding to accomplish this task. Despite earlier predictions of surpluses in the pediatric work force, there are now shortages tha t will worsen if the current trend persists. Pediatric nurse practitio ners (PNPs) and some physician assistants are being trained to perform health supervision care and to diagnose and treat the common illnesse s of children. Substantial evidence suggests that PNPs provide quality health care services, and that collaborative teams of pediatricians a nd PNPs can provide high-quality, cost-effective care to a broader spe ctrum of children than can be served by either professional alone.