The marketability of nurse practitioners in New York City

Until recently nurse practitioners (NPs) in independent practices have almost exclusively served Medicaid populations, and, most NP care has been provided by NP employees in physicians' offices or HMOs. The author explores the willingness of affluent or insured private pay patients to choose NPs as their primary care providers by using both focus groups and telephone interviews of adults between 25 and 50 years of age. Findings included the common perception that physicians were best prepared by education at diagnosing illness and valued for their overall expertise and likelihood to treat patients with respect. Nurses were most liked for their "compassion and caring," their willingness to listen to client concerns, and focus on disease management and health promotion. Nurses were least liked for having "bad attitudes" and being overworked. Only 23% of the survey participants were familiar with the term "advanced practice nurse" while 76% had heard of NPs.