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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
Kathleen A. Baldwin, PhD, RN, College of Nursing, Peoria Regional Program, University of Illinois at Chicago, One Illini Drive, Box 1649, Peoria, IL 61656-1649, 309/671-8467, KBaldwin@uic.edu and Sharie A Metcalfe, PhD, RN, School of Nursing, Illinois Wesleyan University, P.O. Box 2900, Bloomingtonnn, IL 61702.
Historically, a large proportion of advanced practice nurses (APNs) have provided care to underserved rural and poor, inner city populations. The number of APNs in Illinois has increased as governments have focused increased attention on improving access to healthcare. The purpose of this paper is to describe distribution and practice patterns of the Illinois APN workforce, specifically as these patterns relate to underserved populations. Because of legislative changes, the Year 2000 Illinois RN survey presented a unique opportunity to obtain baseline data on the APN workforce prior to the removal of legal constraints on practice. A random sample of the 142,408 Illinois RNs licensed in Illinois resulted in 9,354 surveys (62.5% response). Of these, 700 were educated as APNs. Thirty-seven percent describe themselves as nurse practitioners, 19.9% as anesthetists, 18.3% as clinical nurse specialists, and 7.6% as midwives. The mean age of APNs was 45 years, and 2/3 have <10 years of experience. APNs are most frequently employed in hospitals (42.2%); only 4% work in public health settings. Twenty-three percent of APNs reported difficulty finding a job--primarily because of few employment opportunities in desired geographic locations (38.8%). Approximately 75% of APNs practice in a major metropolitan area; one-third practice in the inner city. Only a small portion of APNs are employed in federally designated rural health clinics. The vast majority of APNs are accepting new patients and provide care to Medicaid patients. This study substantiates APNs' contributions to improved access to healthcare in Illinois, particularly in inner city areas.
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: Underserved Populations, Nurses
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.