Exploring women's attitudes and intentions to seek care from nurse practitioners across different age groups.

Because public acceptance is critical for the successful integration of nurse practitioners into the Canadian health care system, the current study explored how women of different ages perceive nurse practitioners. Middle-aged women held more positive views of health care professionals in general and were more likely to indicate that they would seek help from nurse practitioners compared to younger and older women. Across all three age groups, respondents were more likely to seek help from physicians than from nurse practitioners, especially for acute (versus preventive) health concerns.