The 1.2 million residents in U.S. nursing homes are there for the same reason: staying in the place they last called home is no longer safe when it comes to their health. Yet as these generally older patients transition to spaces where their physical health can be better attended to, it’s not uncommon for their friends and family to drop out of the picture—potentially hampering their mental and emotional health. That’s part of why primary care nurse practitioners’ (PCNPs’) jobs are twofold in nursing homes.
PCNPs are among those making sure nursing home residents get all the care they need—not just medically, but socially.
Long-Term Care Residents Need Quality People Who Care Long-Term
Even before the COVID-19 pandemic drove a sharp increase in visiting restrictions, many nursing home residents received fewer visits from loved ones than desired or expected. When asked why they didn’t visit more often, family members cited all sorts of reasons—over 57% said their working hours made it difficult, some claimed the nursing home was simply too far away, many claimed they had other personal or family obligations, and nearly 40% revealed it was too depressing for them to see their loved one in a nursing home. Yet regardless of the reason, the result is the same: family isn’t always there for these patients.
Of course, this doesn’t mean family was never there for these residents.
Family members often serve as their loved one’s caregivers for as long as they can, only helping them enter a long-term care (LTC) facility once a patient’s needs become more than they can fully meet at home—especially when the patient battles challenging conditions like Alzheimer’s or dementia, or when the family is also raising young children. And even though they enter a patient into a home for all the right reasons, it’s a weighty decision that families can feel intense guilt over, making it even more challenging to visit all the time.
It’s not that these family members don’t care. They just can’t be the ones caregiving all the time. They can’t always be there.
But someone needs to be. For the long-haul, not just in the early days of a patient’s residency.
Thankfully, nursing home PCNPs make an impact far beyond the monitoring of vitals and administering of medicine. Their consistent presence can uplift hearts and minds.
A Primary Care Nurse Practitioner’s Job Involves Being More Than a Medical Expert
PCNPs help tend to nursing home residents’ holistic needs, not just their physical ailments. And since they are often apart from their loved ones, the social needs of these patients cannot be overlooked. One nurse practitioner (NP)—who switched from working in hospitals to nursing homes, where she found her stride—frames it this way: “Caring for these patients involves a lot of chronic disease management, as well as psychosocial and palliative care.”
In LTC, meeting physical needs is one thing. Meeting holistic needs is another. The best caregivers do both, because that’s the true job.
And that’s where PCNPs shine. In fact, recent research speaks to just how prepared NPs are for this undertaking—and their significant, quantitative impact when doing it.
The Proven Impact of Primary Care Nurse Practitioners in Long-Term Care
As concluded by a study published in The Journal of the Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medical Association, “NPs represent an efficient solution in addressing the health care needs of residents in LTC. NPs’ holistic approach to care is grounded in their nursing training, and they bring to LTC a unique role that not only supports residents but families, staff, and managers.” And a separate study conducted in Québec, Canada found that the influence of NPs in LTC helped decrease the number of medications by 12%, along with “the incidence of polypharmacy, falls, restraint use, and transfers to acute care.”
This is part of why MedElite highly values and consistently celebrates PCNPs. And why we’re frequently seeking out PCNPs with a genuine desire to care for the nursing home patients so often shelved by their loved ones.
Ready to Care for Seniors Who Need It?
“The best nursing homes provide 20% more total staffing per resident per day compared to the national average,” Liz Seegert writes for the Association of Health Care Journalists. Yet because of staffing shortages, many fall short of providing the highest-quality care.
MedElite is working to change that.
Are you a PCNP in search of a new role? Consider applying for the following high-priority openings!
Current High-Priority PCNP Job Openings:
- Nationwide Travel Primary Care Nurse Practitioner/Physician’s Assistant (Tampa, FL) | Full-Time
- Nationwide Travel Primary Care Nurse Practitioner/Physician’s Assistant (Atlanta, GA) | Full-Time
- Primary Care Nurse Practitioner/Physician’s Assistant (Montgomery, NY) | Full-Time
- Primary Care Nurse Practitioner/Physician’s Assistant (Springville, NY) | Full-Time
- Primary Care Nurse Practitioner/Physician’s Assistant (Syracuse, NY) | Full-Time
- Primary Care Nurse Practitioner/Physician’s Assistant (Lincoln, NE) | Part-Time
- Primary Care Nurse Practitioner/Physician’s Assistant (Garland, TX) | Part-Time
Not seeing a role that fits just right? Click here to explore our broader list of open nursing jobs. Also make sure you revisit this page in future! Links will be updated as more PCNP jobs become available.