Ka. Baldwin et al., Acceptance of nurse practitioners and physician assistants in meeting the perceived needs of rural communities, PUBL HEAL N, 15(6), 1998, pp. 389-397
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.