Nurse Practitioners
Nurse practitioners are advance practice nurses who are trained to assess patients, order diagnostic studies, diagnose illnesses, and work under the direction of a physician. In healthcare, along with physician assistants, they are referred to as midlevel providers; this designates them as being of a higher provider than a registered nurse but not a physician. Nurse practitioners can work in a number of settings including offices, hospitals, and even in home care. Patients appreciate the services nurse practitioners are able to provide because generally they have a little more time with patients than their physician counterparts.
After receiving a basic nursing education, the nurse practitioner then must receive a master's degree in nursing or a post-master's certificate in nursing. Before a nurse begins her master's program to study becoming a nurse practitioner, it is recommended by most colleges and universities that she practices as a nurse for at least a year. Educational programs are available on both a part-time and full-time basis in order to make it easier for the students to balance their personal and professional lives. Some colleges even offer online study programs in addition to clinical work to help facilitate easier completion of nurse practitioner programs. Scholarships and grants are readily available to help the nurse practitioner student pay tuition because NPs are in high demand in most areas. Nurse practitioner students can specialize in adult medicine, pediatrics, family practice, women’s health, critical care, psychiatry, and several others.
Nurse practitioners can work in almost any health care setting in addition to almost any specialty. Most physicians have at least one midlevel provider to assist with large patient loads. Surgeons will hire nurse practitioners to assist in operating rooms and follow up with patients post operatively. Family practice doctors and specialists have nurse practitioners to examine established patients in the office setting or assist with rounding on patients in the hospital. Nurse practitioners can also work in clinics without immediate supervision of a physician. Family planning clinics as well as free standing medical clinics employ NPs under the supervision of a medical director that may or may not be physically on site. This is beneficial to the clinic because they do not have to pay the salary of a physician but they are still able to have a trained and qualified medical person present to evaluate patients.
Patients and physicians alike both appreciate nurse practitioners. Patients can often get appointments to see the NP more readily than they are able to see the physician. They also often feel like the NP can spend a little extra time discussing problems or concerns. NPs are known for excellent patient teaching and preventative maintenance of health care problems. Physicians like the help of nurse practitioners because they are often able to expand their practice, treat more patients, and also treat patients of a higher acuity while the NP treats patients who are established in their practice already.
Being a nurse practitioner is a truly rewarding career. Nurse practitioners are able to practice with an autonomy that registered nurses cannot. Nurse practitioners are in high demand and with growing patient populations this career path will continue to expand.
Published: 2009-11-03
