Fact Sheet: Nurse Practitioners and

California's Latino/x Community

April 2022

 

Nurse practitioners (NPs), or enfermeros especilizados in Spanish,' are a vital part of California's health
care workforce are a vital part of California's health care workforce. They play a particularly important
role providing high-quality care to underserved Californians, especially in Latino/x communities. They
are more likely to work in safety-net settings, including community health centers, where Latino/x
Californians disproportionately get their care.

Today, more than seven million Californians, the

majority of whom are Latino/x, live in Health Enfermer o/ a especializado/ a
Professional Shortage Areas.? With primary care and is the Spanish word for nurse
other provider shortages projected to grow over the o.: 1

next decade, NPs will play an even greater role in practitioner.

ensuring Latino/x families can access the care they

need.? That is especially true, given that NPs already represent nearly a third of California's primary
care workforce and that their numbers in the state are growing at twice the rate of physicians.

The care provided to Latinos/x in California should be the same high-quality care provided to all
Californians. Research studies show that NPs provide primary care of similar quality as physicians and,
in some aspects, NP quality of care may be higher.*

Latino/x Californians Face Growing Challenges Accessing Care
Nearly one in five Latino/x Californians report having no usual source of care.® They are also:

e More likely to experience provider shortages: 44% said there are not enough primary care
providers in their community to meet local needs, compared to 35% of Californians overall.®

e Most likely to say that they, or a family member, had to put off physical health care or skip a
medical test due to cost in the last 12 months.'

e Least likely to say that they can get health care for themselves or their family at a location
"that is easy to get to."®

e Least likely to report that it's easy to find health care they can afford for themselves or their
family.°

e The least likely to report having a primary care provider, even when they are insured,
compared to other insured Californians.?°

AN THE CALIFORNA HEALTH CARE FOUNDATION | 1
Nurse Practitioners Provide Care Where It's Needed the Most

e NPs play an important role in the safety net.

Over 60% of NPs in California say they always or Research studies show that
almost always work with underserved

populations."! nurse practitioners provide

e NPs playa major role in community health primary care of similar
centers. California NPs are more than twice as quality as physicians and,

likelyto work in a community health center than in some aspects, NP quality

physicians.12 ; ,
e NPs are more likely to speak Spanish than of care may be higher.

physicians. In California, 27% of NPs speak
Spanish, compared to less than 20% of physicians.1*

e NPs are more likely to work in primary care than physicians. Among California NPs, 59% work
in primary care, compared to 17% of physicians.'* NPs also represent nearly a third of
California's primary care workforce, and their numbers in the state are growing at twice the rate
of physicians.

e NPs nationwide are more likely to work in rural communities than physicians.*°

Endnotes

 

1 This Spanish language term for NP was codified in California state law AB 890, passed in 2020.
2 "HPSA Find," Health Resources and Services Administration.

3 Meeting the Demand for Health: Final Report of the California Future Health Workforce Commission (PDF), California
Future Health Workforce Commission (Commission), February 2019.

4 Robin P. Newhouse et al., "Advanced Practice Nurse Outcomes 1990-2008: A Systematic Review," Nursing Economics 29, no. 5 (Sep.-
Oct. 2011): 230-50.

5 Megan Thompson and Allison Valentine, Health Disparities by Race and Ethnicity in California, 2021: Pattern of
Inequity, California Health Care Foundation (CHCF), October 2021.

§ The 2019 Kaiser Family Foundation / CHCF California Health Policy Survey, CHCF.

7 Rebecca Catterson, Lucy Rabinowitz, and Emily Alvarez, The 2022 CHCF California Health Policy Survey, CHCF, January
2022.

® Catterson, Rabinowitz, and Alvarez, 2022 CHCF Survey.
9 Catterson, Rabinowitz, and Alvarez.
10 NORC report [forthcoming].

41 Joanne Spetz et al., 2017 Survey of Nurse Practitioners and Certified Nurse Midwives, Healthforce Center at UCSF,
April 2018.

22 Joanne Spetz, Expanding the Role of Nurse Practitioners in California: The Impact on Patient Access to Care (PDF),
CHCF, May 2019.

13 Spetz et al., 2017 Survey; and Janet M. Coffman, Igor Geyn, and Margaret Fix, California Physicians: Who They Are,
How They Practice (PDF), CHCF, August 2017.

44 Spetz et al., 2017 Survey; and Coffman, Geyn, and Fix, California Physicians.
15 Spetz et al.; and Coffman, Geyn, and Fix.
16 Meeting the Demand, Commission.

 

AN THE CALIFORNA HEALTH CARE FOUNDATION | 2