Nurse Practitioner Workforce Analysis

Primary care nurse practitioner workforce represents a significant supply of primary care providers able to meet the demand for care.
While studies show Kentucky will have an excess of registered nurses in the next decade, right now many of the state’s hospitals are stressed to hire enough nurses to care for patients.
Kentucky has about 45,500 full-time employed RNs, whose average annual salary is about $60,000, according to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics. The Kentucky Board of Nursing website reports 69,337 active RN licenses in the state.
What is the solution? Offer incentives, provide mentor programs, and encourage current nurses to excel with higher education. Nurse practitioners are highly educated, having graduate degrees,
They are key elements of patient-centered care in rural communities. Nurse practitioners prescribe medications and follow clinical care recommendations just the same as doctors. Nurse practitioners are holistic care providers. The benefit of this partnership is that the patient’s immediate need is met, and they do not have come back for another visit, eventually resulting in a quicker determination of the problem. The focus on prevention and curative care needs. They not only look at the patient, they also consider the environment and what the can do to help quality of life. Nurse practitioners are assisting Kentucky's doctor shortage. 14,900 to 35,600: The projected shortage of primary care physicians in the U.S. by 2025.
Nurse practitioners can focus on practice outside role and population emphasis and connection to patient healthcare needs. One of the biggest benefits of nurse practitioners is the can offer assistance and can address the increased demand for primary care needs and chronic illness management. Nurse practitioners provide a significant contribution to high-importance with patient centered primary care
New England Journal of Medicine 369:10, 981-982.

International Journal of Health Care Finance and Economics, 4, 271–281