Nurse practitioners, physician assistants, and trust: A systematic review. 2024

Tracy H Porter, and Jessica A Peck, and Gina Thoebes

BACKGROUND The use of physician extenders (e.g., nurse practitioners [NPs] and physician assistants [PAs]) has risen in recent years in the U.S. health care domain, yet some scholars have questioned if physician extenders are being fully utilized in the health care field. OBJECTIVE The purpose of this research was to conduct a systematic review to determine if trust in the NP/PA might be influential in the ways these professionals are utilized. We view trust through the lens of Mayer et al. and their model of organizational trust, and we seek to examine how patients, physicians, and NPs/PAs themselves view one another. METHODS This systematic review spanned from 1996 to 2022 and applied the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses strategy. The final sample consisted of 29 articles. RESULTS The findings point to how the antecedents of trust according to Mayer et al.; i.e., trustee's ability, benevolence, and integrity) influence the trusting relationships between patients and NPs/PAs and between physicians and NPs/PAs. Consequences and outcomes of trust are also discussed. Importantly, a trustor's propensity to trust and repeat interactions over time (e.g., feedback loop) is influential to trusting relationships. CONCLUSIONS These findings offer health care organizations insight into the mechanisms for building trust as physician extenders become more prominent in the health care field.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D009722 Nurse Practitioners Nurses who are specially trained to assume an expanded role in providing medical care under the supervision of a physician. Nurse Practitioner,Practitioner, Nurse,Practitioners, Nurse
D010823 Physician Assistants Health professionals who practice medicine as members of a team with their supervising physicians. They deliver a broad range of medical and surgical services to diverse populations in rural and urban settings. Duties may include physical exams, diagnosis and treatment of disease, interpretation of tests, assist in surgery, and prescribe medications. (from http://www.aapa.orglabout-pas accessed 2114/2011) Doctor's Assistant,Feldsher,Feldshers,Physician Assistant,Physicians' Assistants,Physicians' Extender,Physicians' Extenders,Doctor's Assistants,Assistant, Doctor's,Assistant, Physicians',Assistants, Doctor's,Assistants, Physician,Assistants, Physicians',Doctor Assistant,Doctor Assistants,Doctors Assistant,Extender, Physicians',Extenders, Physicians',Physician Extender,Physician Extenders,Physician's Assistants,Physician's Extender,Physician's Extenders,Physicians Assistants,Physicians Extender,Physicians' Assistant
D006801 Humans Members of the species Homo sapiens. Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D035502 Trust Confidence in or reliance on a person or thing.

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