title: Attitudes toward nurse practitioners: influence of gender, age, ethnicity, education and income.
abstract: Survey research was undertaken to measure relationships between gender, age, ethnicity, education, income level, and an individual's attitude toward using a nurse practitioner (NP) for health care. Pender's Health Promotion Model provided the theoretical basis for the research initiative and instrument design. Following initial pilot work, 238 individuals were surveyed. While no significant differences on the basis of gender and race were found, high school graduates demonstrated significantly more positive attitudes toward NPs than non-high school graduates, and older subjects and those with lower incomes were less positively inclined to use NP services. These findings have implications for the marketing of NP services, NP education, and public education, and should be used as a basis for additional research in this area.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nursing, Millersville University, P.O. Box 1002, Millersville, PA 17551-0302, USA.
authors.forename: C Y
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Phillips
authors.forename: C V
authors.initials: CV
authors.lastname: Palmer
authors.forename: V S
authors.initials: VS
authors.lastname: Wettig
authors.forename: J W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Fenwick
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001290:Attitude; D004522:Educational Status; D005006:Ethnicity; D005260:Female; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D006801:Humans; D007182:Income; D008297:Male; D008389:Marketing of Health Services; D008875:Middle Aged; D009722:Nurse Practitioners; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D011369:Professional-Patient Relations; D011639:Public Opinion; D012737:Sex Factors