Nurse Practitioner Week was just celebrated in Amherst County,
Virginia. The Amherst County Board of Supervisors unanimously passed a
resolution to recognize nurse practitioners last week from Nov. 7
through 13. The theme for Nurse Practitioner Week was "Everyday Heroes."
Nurse practitioners are masters or doctorate-educated advanced-practice
nurses. They can diagnose patient symptoms, read x-rays, write
prescriptions, and treat minor injuries.
Amherst native Rosie Taylor-Lewis, director of health services at Sweet
Briar College and one of about 5,000 nurse practitioners in Virginia,
said that any given workday could demand a variety of care which falls
to nurse practitioners. ?They provide patients with access to care and
that makes them heroes in patient?s eyes,? Taylor-Lewis said.
Taylor-Lewis has been a nurse practitioner since 1993, and recently
completed her doctorate at Old Dominion University. She described the
role of a nurse practitioner as collaborative rather than supervisory.
The ratio of nurses to doctors enables the nurses to see more, "because
there's more of us," she said. On busy days, doctors have a hard time
seeing all the patients, but still get into "turf battles" with nurses,
something Taylor-Lewis is opposed to saying, "That makes for bad
medicine."
"(Nursing is) an important profession, because of a growing patient pool
that outnumbers doctors," Taylor-Lewis said. "The new health care law
will add to that pool with more people seeking medical attention."
During a nursing shortage, it may be that such festivities as Amherst's
Nurse Practitioner Week will serve and important role in encouraging
more Americans to step up and become everyday heroes of the medical
world. The Association of American Medical Colleges estimates that by
2015, America will have a shortage of around 21,000 primary care
physicians. President Obama has tried to address the nursing shortage,
and spoke to a crowd of over 1,000 nurses at the biennial American
Nurses Association House of Delegates where he advocated people to go
into the field of nursing. The U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services has announced a series of investments worth $250 million
provided through the Affordable Care Act and designed to increase the
number of health care providers and strengthen the primary care
workforce.
The Virginia Council of Nurse Practitioners celebrated National Nurse
Practitioner Week with a virtual book drive to purchase new books for
patients in medically underserved communities through the Reach Out and
Read Virginia program. They also offered special activities in various
regions of the state.
Central ? NP Week Proclamations presented at Nov. 4 Danville City
Council meeting and Nov. 9 Lynchburg City Council meeting and would like
to have NPs in attendance. The region provided Reach Out and Read
support for Johnson Health Center in Lynchburg and is working on
securing a location in Danville.
Northern Shenandoah Valley ? Students from Shenandoah University read to
children at a local clinic.
Northern Virginia ? Solicited new and gently used children?s books at
the Nov. 11 regional meeting.
Peninsula ? Solicited new and gently used children?s books at the Nov.
17 regional meeting. Members read to children at Brentwood Pediatrics on
Nov. 10 at 1:30 pm and Newport News Free Clinic on Nov. 15.
Richmond ? Members read to children at Hayes E. Willis Health Center on
Nov. 10.
Tidewater ? Solicited new and gently used children?s books for Suffolk?s
Lakeview Medical Center Pediatrics at the Nov. 10 regional meeting.
The Virginia Council of Nurse Practitioners has a long-term goal to
update the state's laws governing nurse practitioners, an undertaking
that has not been done since 1973.