More prominent shortage of primary care providers incurred by The Affordable Care Act. Evidence has showed that many medical conditions can be managed by NP safely and efficiently. There are more calls to allow NP to practice more independently.
Just wanted to add more article links that speak about geriatrician shortage and comparable earnings between geriatricians and adult-gerontology primary care nurse practitioners:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27364024
Likewise, systematic review highlighting outcomes achieved by nurse practitioners:
http://www.bmj.com/content/324/7341/819