Acceptance of nurse practitioners and physician assistants in meeting the perceived needs of rural communities

Nurse practitioners and physician assistants have provided a partial soluti on to the shortage of primary care services in medically underserved rural areas. This paper describes the results of a study exploring community acce ptance of nurse practitioners and physician assistants in rural medically u nderserved areas. Community acceptance in the context of this study implies not only satisfaction with care received, but also willingness of the comm unity to support NP/PA practice through its infrastructure and encourage me mbers to initially seek and continue to receive care from an NP or PA. Five focus groups were conducted in each of five rural medically underserved co mmunities. The two most pervasive findings were the lack of previous exposu re to NPs and PAs and the general belief that NPs and PAs would be accepted in these communities if certain conditions could be met. The theme of cond itional acceptance included both personal and system factors. Personal fact ors included friendliness, competence, willingness to enter into the life o f the community, and the ability to keep information confidential. System f actors considered critical for acceptance included service type, integratio n with the existing health care system, cost, geographic proximity, and ava ilability. The results of this study offer insight into community attitudes and suggest marketing strategies for those who plan to introduce NP or PA services into rural communities.