Changes in the advertised demand for nurse practitioners in the United States, 1975-1986

Legislative and reimbursement policies have presented barriers to employment and autonomy for nurse practitioners since the beginning of the nurse practitioner movement in 1965. Greater resistance to NPs in the 1980s was predicted because of a sluggish economy and burgeoning oversupply of physicians. In this study, quantitative content analysis was used to examine 1,022 job advertisements published in The Nurse Practitioner: The American Journal of Primary Health Care from 1975 to 1986. Unstandardized regression analysis was used to compare changes in the demand for nurse practitioners by region, employment setting, job duties, specialty, employment time (full- or part-time), degree required or preferred for the position, and whether the ad specified a joint practice arrangement. Contrary to the predictions of past research, the demand for nurse practitioners increased during this time period, with a greater tendency toward primary care.