Nurse Practitioner

What you need to know about the job

• What Is a Nurse Practitioner?

• Why Are Nurse Practitioners So Important?

• How to Become a Nurse Practitioner

• Nurse Practitioner Schooling and Education Requirements

• Educational Prerequisites

• Nurse Practitioner Program Specialties

• Examination, Licensure, and Certification

• Nurse Practitioner Careers and Outlook

• Nurse Practitioner Responsibilities & Duties

• Nurse Practitioner Specialties

• Working Conditions

• Salary and Employment

Nurse Practitioners (NPs) are advanced-practice registered nurses who provide comprehensive care to patients. Not only do nurse practitioners provide diagnostic care and treatment, they also focus on preventive health maintenance. Nurse practitioners are first and foremost nurses, which means patient education and holistic care is a large part of their practice. Depending on the state in which they practice, oversight by physicians may or may not be required.

Nurse practitioners can diagnose and treat patients as well as perform procedures. They differ from physicians in that their patient care approach is more holistic. Being nurses, they gather information about a patient not only to include physical symptoms, but psychosocial and environmental information as well. They are skilled in education, and therefore can spend time teaching patients and family about disease processes, treatments, and healthcare prevention as well as diagnosing acute health issues.

According to the American Association of Nurse Practitioners, nurse practitioners can also help lower the cost of healthcare, as patients who use NPs as their primary care provider have fewer emergency room visits and shorter hospital stays. Additionally, they help to fill the gap with the primary care physician shortage in the United States. They also tend to have high patient satisfaction.

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