2011 was a great year for locum tenens nurse practitioner (NP) staffing at Barton Associates – and we look forward to continued growth in 2012 and beyond! A few key items:
- Locum tenens nurse practitioner staffing requests handled by our teams increased by 71% in 2011 – which is great news for our locum NPs.
- Our network of locum tenens NPs grew by 82% in 2011 – putting us in an even better position to serve facility and practice clients in need of nurse practitioner coverage.
- The average length of nurse practitioner locum assignments increased significantly in 2011 compared to 2010.
Our nurse practitioner staffing team expects continued growth in 2012 due to a variety of factors, including:
- The U.S. physician shortage (expected to peak in 2020). Nurse practitioners are well positioned to help alleviate the effects of this shortage and are an attractive option for short-staffed medical facilities and practices.
- The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (federal health care reform) is expected to increase patient demand for primary care services. This reform, coupled with the existing physician shortage, will further strain capacity and locum tenens nurse practitioners will be (increasingly) relied upon to help practices maintain patient access, continuity of care, and revenue generation.
- NPs can be a cost-effective alternative to MDs in many cases. In general, nurse practitioners can perform many of the functions of a primary care doctor and are increasingly seen as a viable and valuable alternative to MDs by many medical facilities and practices. In addition, popular retail health clinics are often staffed, all or in part, by nurse practitioners, which will lead to further increases in demand.
We’re taking steps to make sure we’re prepared to grow with the NP staffing market:
- We plan to bring new account management and recruiting staff onboard in 2012 to more effectively serve those interested in nurse practitioner locum jobs and health care facilities and practices in need of locum tenens nurse practitioner staffing solutions.
- We will also be developing and implementing comprehensive training programs for our teams on the NP staffing market in order to solidify our position as a leading temporary nurse practitioner staffing agency.
- Our marketing and technology teams will be deploying improved traditional and mobile web tools in 2012 in order to make the process of finding nurse practitioner jobs and nurse practitioner staffing solutions as efficient as possible for our locums and clients.
- We established a New License Assistance Program last year that allows us to pay for new licenses for nurse practitioners. We will be expanding this program in 2012 in order to continue effectively serving medical facilities and practices in need of coverage and to open the door to new nurse practitioner jobs across the country for our NPs.
Our nurse practitioner staffing teams are fully committed to being leaders in the locum tenens NP staffing industry and to providing high quality, fast, and efficient services throughout the United States. To learn more about our nurse practitioner locum tenens staffing solutions, give us a call at 877.341.9606 today or complete any of the numerous forms on our site.
