Consumers Need Nurses with Advanced Skills to Deliver Primary Care

By Jennie Chin Hansen, RN, MS, FAAN
AARP President
Chief Executive Officer, American Geriatrics Society

Throughout my career, I’ve worn many hats… as a nurse, a health care executive, a consumer voice, among others. In each of these roles, I’ve become progressively aware of the vital role advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs) must play in meeting our nation’s future primary care needs, especially given the anticipated shortage of primary care providers. The Association of American Medical Colleges predicts a shortage of 46,000 primary care physicians by 2025.

I recently joined other nurses, physicians, physician assistants, and researchers at a meeting convened by the Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation to discuss how we can best prepare a strong primary care workforce. We recognized the need to bring hospitals, nursing schools, and community-based care settings together in partnership for the preparation of APRNs if we want to achieve cost-effective, quality care for Medicare recipients.
We produced a series of recommendations, a number of which address the need for graduate nursing education and the need to remove barriers that limit – in many states – consumer access to APRN-provided primary care.

Congress and the President have also recognized the value of APRNs in providing high-quality primary care, particularly the need to increase funding for graduate nursing education. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act contains the Medicare Graduate Nurse Education Demonstration Program, which aims to increase the number of highly skilled APRNs by providing $200 million to bolster their training. This program also lays the foundation to transform the way Medicare pays for nursing education by targeting dollars toward educating nurses with the skills needed to care for Medicare recipients.

As I complete my tenure as AARP President, I am pleased that AARP successfully collaborated with leading nursing organizations – in effect consumers partnering with nurses – to help ensure Americans will have access to nurses with the advanced education and skills we need to receive high quality care.