Nurse practitioners' use of clinical preventive services

Purpose To examine the use of clinical preventive services (CPSs) by nurse practitioners (NPs) in practice. Data sources A total of 53 transcribed NP-patient encounters and 28 NP surveys. Conclusions Based on content analysis of the transcribed interviews, only a small majority of NPs (60.4%) used at least one CPS per visit. From the post-survey results, it appears that what NPs think they do varies greatly from what they actually do in clinical practice. Implications for practice The knowledge gained about the use of recommended CPSs may help promote better clinical practice among NPs and foster improvement in graduate school preparation of NP students.