Nurse Practitioners in Healthcare and Psychology in Rural NC

Due to the connection of healthcare and psychology, it is crucial to understand how both work together and the issues behind them. In particular, there are geographical problems and low access to psychiatrists and nurse practitioners in healthcare and psychology in rural eastern NC. There is not enough resources and access to treatment which is affecting many ethnic minority and low socioeconomic status families. Addressing these issues should be a top concern for all healthcare officials, but even more so for those in NC.

Rural Eastern NC Healthcare

Living in rural eastern areas such as NC, there can be several issues that arise such as little-to-no transportation, poor access to resources, and not enough education. These factors come into play in the healthcare field as well because everyone needs healthcare services despite their status. However, there is not enough equity for these individuals and families that are ethnic minorities because of their rural locations and little access to help and resources not to mention poor education. Studies have shown that minorities are less likely to get physician and health care services especially the Hispanic community and it is even lower in the rural areas (Sherrill, Crew, Mayo, Mayo, Rogers, & Haynes, 2005). Without equal access to healthcare, business is impacted for healthcare and there may not be enough revenue. For example, the Hispanic population is less likely to have any insurance than any other ethnic group and therefore creates even less access to healthcare (Sherrill, et al., 2005). Healthcare companies could benefit greatly from this as those populations could apply for public insurance such as Medicaid. This also applies to the psychology field as it is a part of healthcare and in particular the shortage of psychiatric medicine in rural eastern NC.

Nurse Practitioners

There are various health care professionals one of which are nurse practitioners. Nurse practitioners are registered nurses with an expanded role as they work to provide and promote health and wellness to their patients through education in mostly primary care settings (Shi & Singh, 2017). Nurse practitioners are crucial in psychology as there is a shortage of psychiatrists in eastern NC. Nurse practitioners are also beneficial as they provide high-quality and cost-effective medical care. Although they are not full psychiatrists, they are beneficial to the field of psychology as they can still prescribe psychiatric medicine under a physician’s name.

Experience

My internship at a local community mental health facility has helped me witness the connection between the need for nurse practitioners in rural eastern NC for ethnic minorities in the field of psychology. There is always a high demand for psychiatric medicine for a majority of the clients that we serve in various locations in eastern NC. The problem however, is that there is such a high demand for psychiatric medicine but not enough supply of psychiatrists, and nurse practitioners. Without having a provider professional such as a nurse practitioner or psychiatrist, the patients and patients’ families are directly impacted. The group of ethnic minorities are also impacted because they are already limited in access and treatment. One of the solutions that has arose is the use of tele-medicine. Tele-medicine has been time effective with appointments lasting 15-30 minutes after the initial assessment. However, there is a part of of healthcare missing when the patient never gets to meet their provider with face-to-face appointments. Telemedicine has helped provide services to those in need but we also need to find more ways to serve these rural communities. Knowing what the research shows, it is time to bridge the gap between healthcare access in the psychology field in rural eastern NC.

Conclusion

Learning the topic of health care professionals such as nurse practitioners has helped me make a connection between healthcare and the psychology field in rural eastern NC. It is essential to address the shortage of psychiatrists and nurse practitioners. Without the appropriate healthcare access, many ethnic minority, low socioeconomic status families will be negatively impacted. Healthcare facilities may also be hurt as their revenue may be lowered due to less people coming in for treatment. Through techniques such as tele-medicine, it has helped increase time effectiveness but it still lacks patient centeredness. It is crucial to change these issues through more services, resources, and care for all populations in rural eastern NC.

References

Sherrill, W. W., Crew, L., Mayo, R. M., Mayo, W. F., Rogers, B. L., & Haynes, D. F. (2005).

Educational and health services innovation to improve care for rural Hispanic communities in the US. Education For Health: Change In Learning & Practice, 18(3), 356-367. doi:10.1080/13576280500312850

Shi, L., Singh, D. A. (2017). Essentials of the u.s. health care system (4th ed.). Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning, LLC.