Nurse practitioners and physician assistants in Dutch hospitals: their role, extent of substitution and facilitators and barriers experienced in the reallocation of tasks

Abstract

Nurse practitioners and physician assistants have wide ranging but different responsibilities in public hospitals. By performing medical procedures and new tasks or tasks for which there was not enough capacity, they function as substitutes and supplements for doctors. However, barriers are affecting the extent of substitution. The challenge ahead is to remove the barriers experienced by nurse practitioners and physician assistants.