With advantages for those who want to pursue careers in healthcare, the health systems that will employ them, and patient access to care, the nurse practitioner profession has seen rapid growth over the past 15 years. Healthcare Dive has reported that from 2010-2017, the number of practicing NPs grew from 91,000 to 190,000 mostly due to more than 100 new NP programs opening during that same period. Today, the American Association of Nurse Practitioners (AAPN) shows more than 385,000 practicing NPs.

And there’s no sign of slowing down. NPs are predicted to be the second fastest growing U.S. profession by 2032 and the fastest growing healthcare profession.

Since the 1960s, the nurse practitioner field has created opportunities for nurses within the healthcare system by providing a pathway to earn an advance degree and expand their role in patient care. This has helped offset physician shortages and improved patient access to care, especially in rural areas.

However, unprecedented growth also brings other challenges for the field.

Nurse Practitioner Clinical Training Site Shortages

The rise in NP programs and students has created a bottleneck for student access to training sites. While NP students only need 500 clinical hours, a fraction of the training time required in a medical residency, NP programs often lack the infrastructure to provide these clinical sites for their students. This leaves students to their own devices–and in competition with one another–to find a preceptor to host their training.

A recent episode of The Big Take, a Bloomberg podcast, elucidates the issues that stem from this model of clinical training in the NP field, especially at the rate the field is expected to grow. The episode highlights both the risks of students not finding enough training to complete their hours and students feeling unprepared as they enter the field. Also noted is a likeliness for students of online programs–who may not have the infrastructure of nearby clinical partnerships to support–to feel the weight of self-supplied clinical training.

A Solution to Support Growth

For schools looking to expand enrollment, solutions exist to ensure that a growth in clinical training site availability meets class sizes, ensuring students receive accreditation-aligned training and feel prepared when entering the field.

Among these solutions is AMOpportunities, whose clinical training support and service solutions allow partner schools to plan their site networks and recruit and develop new sites with the benefit of a dedicated team of coordinators and advisors.

Looking to manage growth of your school’s NP program? Connect with the AMO team to learn more about our nursing solutions by emailing nursing@amopportunities.org