Chapter 4 - Healthcare Professionals

Advanced practice nurse (APN)

A general name for nurses who have education and clinical experience beyond that required of an RN. APNs include four areas of specialization in nursing: clinical nurse specialists (CNSs), certified registered nurse anesthetists (CRNAs), nurse practitioners (NPs), and certified nurse midwives (CNMs).

Allied health

A broad category that includes services and professionals in many health-related technical areas. Allied health professionals include technicians, assistants, therapists, and technologists.

Allopathic medicine

Views medical treatment as an active intervention to produce a counteracting reaction in an attempt to neutralize the effects of disease.

Generalists

In the United States, physicians trained in family medicine/general practice, general internal medicine, and general pediatrics are considered primary care physicians or generalists.

Hospitalist

Involved in inpatient medicine and parallel the roles of primary physicians in an outpatient setting in that they manage the care of hospitalized patients.

Maldistribution

An imbalance (i.e., surplus in some but shortage in others) of the distribution of health professionals, such as physicians, needed to maintain the health status of a given population at an optimum level.

Geographic maldistribution

refers to the surplus in some regions (such as metropolitan areas) but shortage in other regions (such as rural and inner-city areas) of needed health professionals.

Specialty maldistribution

refers to the surplus in some specialties (such as physician specialists) but shortage in others (such as primary care).

Nonphysician practitioners (NPPs)

Clinical professionals who practice in many areas, similar to those in which physicians practice but who do not have an MD or a DO degree. NPPs are sometimes called midlevel practitioners, because they receive less advanced training than physicians but more training than RNs.

Osteopathic medicine

Emphasizes the musculoskeletal system of the body (e.g., the correction of joints or tissues).

Pharmaceutical care

A mode of pharmacy practice in which the pharmacist takes an active role on behalf of patients, which includes giving information on drugs and advice on their potential misuse and assisting prescribers in appropriate drug choices. In so doing, the pharmacist assumes direct responsibility, collaboratively with other health care professionals and with patients, to achieve the desired therapeutic outcomes.

Residency

Graduate medical education in a specialty that takes the form of paid on-the-job training, usually in a hospital.

Specialists

Physicians in nonprimary care specialties.