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Laura Thiem is a nurse practitioner who owns a health clinic
in Adrian, Mo., located about 50 miles south of Kansas City.
Her patient is 81-year-old Raymond Beebe. Kent Faddis
photo
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Nurses
Bring Health
Care
to Rural Missouri
By
Jennifer Faddis
Accessible health care is a major concern
for rural Missourians. In many situations, people have to travel
long distances to see a doctor. To address this concern, some
nurse practitioners in the state are opening their own health
clinics, and the University of Missouri-Columbia is helping them
get the skills they need.
“Nurse practitioners were not trained
as business people but were trained as clinicians,” said
Shirley Farrah, assistant dean for outreach and distance education
for the MU Sinclair School
of Nursing. “It's important to help them get the business
skills that they need, provide networking opportunities and know
the regulations that go along with owning your own clinic.”
According to Farrah, there are fewer than
15 health clinics in Missouri that are owned and operated by nurse
practitioners. MU Extension
nursing programs show nurse practitioners in rural communities
what it takes to start and operate a successful health clinic.
“The patient care aspect is probably
the easiest. It's the business aspect that a lot of nurses aren't
taught,” said Laura Thiem, a nurse practitioner who owns
a health clinic in Adrian, Mo., located 50 miles south of Kansas
City.
With the help of her family, Thiem turned
an empty storefront on Main Street into the Adrian Clinic. In
her first year, her practice has served 1,800 people with more
than 4,000 patient visits.
“That's pretty busy, and it's enough
to keep the doors open. That tells me that there's a need here,” Thiem said.
According to the American Association of Colleges
of Nursing, health planners increasingly rely on nurse practitioners
as the providers of choice for a range of front-line health services
due to the growing pressure to balance quality and cost. Studies
show that the quality of nurse practitioner care is equal to,
and at times better than, comparable services by physicians and
often lower in cost.
“About 80 to 90 percent of the patient
issues that are seen in offices can be dealt with by nurse practitioners,” Farrah said.
Since the mid-90s, the number of nurse practitioners
has grown every year. In 1996, there were fewer than 40,000 nurse
practitioners nationwide, but nine years later the number had
increased to 141,000, according to the U.S. Department of Health
and Human Services.
According to the Missouri State Board of Nursing,
there are 3,026 nurse practitioners in the state. With the spiraling
cost of health care, these professionals are playing a significant
role by providing an affordable alternative for those who need
it most. Farrah adds that rural health care in Missouri could
benefit from the increasing number of nurse practitioners if they
decide to own their own clinics. Currently, there are only a handful
of clinics owned by nurse practitioners.
“That number has got to more than double,” Thiem said. “We need to have them in the hundreds. We have
communities out there that could easily support a nurse practitioner.”
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Last Update:
March 12, 2007
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