The need for doctors is growing faster than new doctors are arriving on the scene. Even with new graduates, J1 visas, and job changes, there is still a growing need for doctors. Step in physician assistants and nurse practitioners to help!
The Key: Nurse Practitioners and Physician Assistants
Nurse practitioners and physician assistants can provide care to your patients as often if not more so than doctors. As of 2014, New York provided legislation to broaden the scope of what nurse practitioners and physician assistants can do. The Nurse Practitioners Modernization Act, which took effect January 1, 2015, eliminates the requirement that NPs have a written practice agreement with a doctor in order to practice independently. New York is the eighteenth state, along with the District of Columbia, to implement such a measure.
Where Physicians and Assistants Meet on Care Level
There is a misconception that doctors can provide better bedside care than assistants. In fact, assistants can often spend more time with the patient, and therefore have more intimate knowledge of that patient’s needs. With that knowledge, assistants can also provide the doctor with better insight to help provide diagnoses. Sometimes a patient is reluctant to tell someone what ails them, but in spending more time with a patient, assistants can sometimes pick up on non-verbal cues.
The key to meeting your staffing needs is balancing the number of physicians, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants in your private practice, hospital, clinic, etc. If you’re looking to hire qualified professionals in any of those areas, the specialty-specific recruiters at Enterprise Medical Recruiting can help. Contact us today!