Nurse Practitioner Roles and Contributions in a Mobile Health Clinic for People Experiencing Homelessness

To present a descriptive, practice-based account of a nurse practitioner-led mobile health clinic serving individuals experiencing homelessness, guided by the PRIME-NP framework.

Homelessness is associated with health inequities and limited access to care. Individuals face barriers including transportation, stigma, and displacement. Although mobile outreach may help address these barriers, little work has examined competencies for nurse practitioners in unstable, resource-limited environments. In this clinic, nurse practitioners provide field-based care, including wound management, chronic disease assessment, infectious disease testing, and care coordination in street and encampment settings.

This paper presents a descriptive, practice-based account of a quality improvement initiative conducted within a mobile clinic that provides outreach services to individuals experiencing homelessness in community settings. It draws on operational summaries, interdisciplinary workflows, and field-based care delivery. Interpretation of Nurse Practitioners' roles was guided by the PRIME-NP framework, which conceptualizes competencies across five domains.

Nurse practitioners enacted PRIME framework roles, including relationship-building, assessment, care coordination, and education. They delivered primary and wound care and infectious disease testing while addressing challenges such as displacement, medication loss, behavioral health concerns, and limited communication access. Collaboration with pharmacy, legal, and social services partners supported care coordination and continuity during outreach activities.

Mobile services led by nurse practitioners may provide accessible, low-barrier care for individuals who cannot access traditional health systems and may contribute to opportunities for trust-building, engagement, and continuity of care.

These insights underscore the need to integrate mobile outreach competencies into nurse practitioner education.

Sustainable funding and supportive regulation are needed to integrate nurse practitioner-led mobile services into community health systems.