title: Health problems encountered by pediatric nurse practitioners and pediatricians in ambulatory care clinics.
abstract: This study documents the health problems managed by pediatric nurse practitioners (PNPs) and pediatricians and examines the effects of setting and provider group on the distribution of health problems. Proportional samples by clinic were selected from a total of 11,968 patient visits to five ambulatory care clinics during an 18-week period in 1978. A patient encounter form was devised and the ICD-9-CM was used as the coding system. Results indicated 1) distributions of health problems differed significantly between the PNPs and the pediatricians in each clinic; 2) setting significantly effected the distributions of both types of health problems; and 3) provider group significantly affected the distribution of health problems with V codes but not frequently reported problems given a setting. The PNPs caseloads differ from pediatrician caseloads in diagnostic categories and wellness emphases. Community-based settings seem to be especially appropriate for nurse practitioner practice.
mesh_terms: D000554:Ambulatory Care Facilities; D002648:Child; D002662:Child Health Services / Q000592:standards; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009722:Nurse Practitioners; D010371:Pediatric Nursing; D010372:Pediatrics; D010819:Physician's Role; D011340:Problem Solving; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis; D000078329:Workforce