Physician valuing of nurse practitioners in rural primary care

The research examined the phenomenon of physician valuing of nurse practitioners in rural primary care clinics. The literature showed that utilization of the nurse practitioner has increased in the primary care setting to meet the needs of the underserved rural population. This increase provided the researcher with a rich source of primary care physicians who have lived the experience of collaborative practice with nurse practitioners. Qualitative methods were used to identify and examine the phenomenon of physician valuing of the nurse practitioner. The research found that physicians value nurse practitioners for their contributions to the physician, the patient and the practice. The research also found that these physicians value the competency of the nurse practitioners within certain limits. While it was found that physicians value collaboration with their nurse practitioners, the physicians' conceptualization of collaboration did not correspond to the concept of collaboration that is described in the literature.