Attitudes toward nurse practitioners among rural residents

With the cost of health care continuing to rise, more clinics and hospitals are turning to nonphysician clinicians such as nurse practitioners and physician assistants to help provide care for their clients. Some clients, however, may be reluctant to seek care from these types of nontraditional providers. Rural residents specifically could have attitudes toward nurse practitioners that may affect whether or not they seek care from a nurse practitioner. The purpose of this study was to determine what the attitudes are toward nurse practitioners among rural residents. Using a randomly selected sample from the Box Elder County telephone directory, a questionnaire was mailed which would determine the attitude of the respondent toward nurse practitioners. The results indicated that of the variables of education, health insurance, employment status, income, and race/ethnicity, only education was a significant determinant of attitude toward nurse practitioners, with those respondents of lower education having a more positive attitude than respondents with higher education.