[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 152 (Monday, August 8, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Page 48172]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-20000]
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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Health Resources and Services Administration
Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection:
Comment Request
In compliance with the requirement for opportunity for public
comment on proposed data collection projects (section 3506(c)(2)(A) of
Title 44, United States Code, as amended by the Paperwork Reduction Act
of 1995, Pub. L. 104-13), the Health Resources and Services
Administration (HRSA) publishes periodic summaries of proposed projects
being developed for submission to the Office of Management and Budget
(OMB) under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. To request more
information on the proposed project or to obtain a copy of the data
collection plans and draft instruments, e-mail [email protected] or
call the HRSA Reports Clearance Officer at (301) 443-1129.
Comments are invited on: (a) The proposed collection of information
for the proper performance of the functions of the Agency; (b) the
accuracy of the Agency's estimate of the burden of the proposed
collection of information; (c) ways to enhance the quality, utility,
and clarity of the information to be collected; and (d) ways to
minimize the burden of the collection of information on respondents,
including through the use of automated collection techniques or other
forms of information technology.
Proposed Project: National Sample Survey of Nurse Practitioners (OMB
No. 0915-xxxx)-[NEW]
The number of Nurse Practitioners (NP) in the United States has
been growing rapidly over the past decade and continued growth is
expected as the annual number of graduates of NP programs is at an all
time high. Furthermore, over the past 20 years, many regulatory and
financial barriers to using NPs have been removed. The expansion of
health insurance under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act
of 2010 (Pub. L. 111-148) will also increase the demand for services.
With increasing numbers, NPs are poised to play a critical role in the
nation's efforts to expand access to health care services.
Despite the increasing number and role of NPs, unfortunately, there
is currently only limited, inconsistent data available to policy makers
and the health care community. Accordingly, it is difficult for these
leaders to quantify or fully understand the role of NPs in the current
or future health care system. In fact, it is difficult to project with
confidence the number of NPs practicing in the United States today.
The primary purpose of the Bureau of Health Professions' National
Sample Survey of Nurse Practitioners data collection is to: (1) Improve
estimates of NPs providing services; (2) describe the settings where
NPs are working; (3) identify the positions/roles in which NPs are
working; (4) describe the activities and services NPs are providing in
the healthcare workforce; (5) determine the specialties in which NPs
are working; (6) explore NPs' satisfaction with and perception of the
extent to which they are working to their full scope of practice; and
(7) assess variations in practice settings, positions, and practice
patterns by demographic and educational characteristics.
The statutory provision that authorizes this data collection is
section 761 of the Public Health Service Act, ``Health Professions
Workforce Information and Analysis,'' which is codified at 42 U.S.C.
294n. The information obtained from this survey will ultimately lead to
more accurate and complete national estimates of the current NP supply,
as well as assist in the development of more accurate supply and demand
projections for NPs. This, in turn, is likely to influence decisions
regarding both the educational capacity and the number of NP programs
at the national level.
The annual estimate of burden is as follows:
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Number of Responses per Total Hours per Total burden
Instrument respondents respondent responses response hours
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National Sample Survey of Nurse 10,000 1 10,000 .33 3,300
Practitioners..................
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Total....................... 10,000 .............. 10,000 .............. 3,300
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E-mail comments to [email protected] or mail the HRSA Reports
Clearance Officer, Room 10-33, Parklawn Building, 5600 Fishers Lane,
Rockville, MD 20857. Written comments should be received within 60 days
of this notice.
Dated: August 2, 2011.
Reva Harris,
Acting Director, Division of Policy and Information Coordination.
[FR Doc. 2011-20000 Filed 8-5-11; 8:45 am]
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