The demand for and importance of NPs continues to increase as the U.S. faces a growing shortage of health care providers, particularly in rural areas. NPs have leveraged their qualifications and abilities to bring needed health care services to families across the country. At the same time, more NPs are pursuing research opportunities and doctor of nursing practice degrees, which will help further thrust the profession into the public eye.

Health IT adoption has been an ongoing goal of many practices and organizations in 2008, with new incentives for e-prescribing from CMS pushing providers to take another look at tools that could improve the efficiency and accuracy of their record-keeping.

News reports this year have highlighted the growing threat of a flu pandemic, as well as the concern about the spread of MRSA in community settings. The use of the new HPV vaccine has drawn close attention from health care experts who are monitoring the impact of prevention and education in cutting the number of cervical cancer cases. More research on these and many other topics will continue to shed light on best practices for health care delivery.