Nurse Practitioners Seek to Raise Profile

Nurse practitioners, who add years of college education to their training as nurses, will begin a PR campaign this week aimed at getting public acceptance and understanding of their role as health providers,  The Washington Post reports.

They believe they play an important role in helping care for 32 million Americans who will begin carrying health insurance soon under the 2010 health reform law.

“We know that the Affordable Care Act will extend health coverage to millions of Americans,” Penny Kaye Jensen, president of the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners, tells the Post. “It’s important for consumers to understand what we do and that we’re fully prepared to care for them.”