Policy implications for optimizing advanced practice registered nurse use nationally.

This article examines the potential benefits of enhanced use of advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs) given health care workforce projections that predict an inadequate supply of certain types of providers. The conclusions of a systematic review comparing the effectiveness of care provided by APRNs with that of physicians alone or teams without APRNs indicate the viability of this approach. Allowing APRNs to assume roles that take full advantage of their educational preparation could mitigate the shortage of primary care physicians and improve care processes. The development of health care policy should be guided by patient-centric evidence rather than how care has been delivered in the past.

A systematic assessment of strategies to address the nursing faculty shortage, U.S.

This article provides an assessment of strategies implemented nationwide to counter the nursing faculty shortage, highlights those indicating most promise, and proposes a basis for evaluating outcomes. The deficit of educators is a key impediment to filling the growing demand for nurses generated by an aging population and a weak supply of new graduates, which has left up to 13% of hospital RN positions vacant. Educational institutions have adopted various approaches to expand faculty resources with the goal of increasing nursing student enrollment. After conducting a systematic review of the literature from 2000 onward, we analyzed and coded these initiatives using techniques of content analysis and constant comparison. We induced 4 large domains from the data: advocacy, educational partnerships, academic innovation, and external funding. For each domain we identified an exemplar that is substantial, sustainable and replicable. We then proposed a basis for evaluating the impact of these strategies to facilitate replication.