Saturday, November 5, 2011

What Is A Nurse Practitioner And Is It Worth My Time?

Nurse practitioners (NPs) are registered professional nurses who have went on to further their career in the health industry, they have undergone more advanced graduate educational training as well as clinical training, they are trained to provide a wide range of health care services to their patients, including the diagnosis and management of common, as well as complex, medical conditions to individuals of all ages.

nursery rocking chair

NP have been providing quality care for patients since as far back as 1965. According to reports there are over 150,000 NP nationwide. They work in all different types of settings, for example, employee health centers, colleges or universities, student health centers, school health clinics, nursing homes, hospitals, clinics, and even private offices.

NURSE

Nurse practitioners can legally diagnose and treat patients much like Doctors can, they can even bill health insurers for their office time and procedures, their rates are somewhat of a lesser rate than Doctors rates are. That is why, NP are direct revenue producers for practices and hospitals, and as such, they have even more job security than other types of nurses, and can demand much higher salaries as a result of this.

A NP isn't a doctor, but they can and do prescribe medications. They are registered nurses who went back to college and got an advanced nursing degree. Some are required to work under another doctor, but in some areas or states I should say they can open their own practice.

What is required to become a NP?

To become a licensed practitioner, the person interested must first complete the education and training necessary to become a registered nurse (RN). This is usually 2-3 years of schooling to gain your associate degree in nursing.

You then need to go for your BSN, BSN programs are offered by colleges and universities and take 4-5 years and diploma programs are administered in hospitals and usually take 2-3 years. Depending on the program attended, the candidate may fulfill some NP requirements while completing the RN degree.

The next step is to obtain master's level education in nursing with an accredited nurse practitioner track and area of specialization. NP typically will specialize with a focus in a particular medical specialty, disease area, or patient population. All of the education must be obtained at an accredited nursing school.

Some people even say that they are generally much nicer than doctors and seem to care more for their patients, this is really something that depends on the person, I have had good experiences with both so hard to say if this saying is true or not.

What Is A Nurse Practitioner And Is It Worth My Time?

NURSE

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