Nurse practitioners fill a need in health care system [KY]
Posted almost 9 years ago by Nicholas M Perrino
"'There's a big need because of all the additional people who have insurance now,' said Mary Bennett, director of WKU School of Nursing. 'Nurses find it an attractive role because it allows them to have more flexibility with their schedule. It's better for a lot of reasons that you're not doing the 24-hour schedule.'
[Laura Harmon, a nurse practitioner at the practice of Dr. Timothy Long] agreed.
'Right now we are filling a gap in the health care system. Fewer and fewer medical students are going into family and primary care,' she said. 'It's harder and harder to make a living. They want to do something a little more lucrative. We're willing to come in and provide those services. There are more of us every year.'
There are some places, such as rural areas, where physicians are hard to recruit, Harmon said.
'People can't always go to larger areas to go to the doctor. All these people have gotten insurance because of the Affordable Care Act,' she said. 'Now there are more people than there used to be who need a provider.'"