title: A nurse practitioner and primary care.
abstract: As a nurse practitioner employed by a community health care center, I find that I am able to practice primary care the way I imagined I might when I was a student. The characteristics and needs of the particular population I serve have given me ample opportunities. The community health center administrators have not always prioritized expenditures the way my colleagues and I think they should, and we are not immune from the financial and market forces that affect primary care in private practices. However, the essence of primary care is valued by the organization, and it offers me the opportunity to provide this care to a community that needs it.
authors.affiliation: Wake Health Services, Inc., 1001 Rock Quarry Road, Raleigh, NC 27610, USA.
authors.forename: Sharon A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Cullinan
mesh_terms: D003153:Community Health Services; D008484:Medicaid; D006278:Medicare; D009657:North Carolina; D009722:Nurse Practitioners; D011320:Primary Health Care; D000078329:Workforce