What exactly does a nurse practitioner do?!


Question: I know the basics, but i want more specific answers because i want to be one when i am older.


Answers: I know the basics, but i want more specific answers because i want to be one when i am older.

A nurse practitioner (NP) is a registered nurse who has completed specific advanced nursing education (generally a master's degree) and training in the diagnosis and management of common medical conditions. Nurse practitioners provide a broad range of health care services.

Nurse practitioners provide care in family practice offices, urgent care centers, and rural health clinics, and maintain collaborative working relationships with physicians. In the United States, NPs are licensed by the state in which they practice, and have a board certification (usually through the American Nurses Credentialing Center or American Academy of Nurse Practitioners). Nurse practitioners can be trained and nationally certified in areas of pediatrics, geriatrics, family, psychiatry and acute care.

Nurse practitioners treat both acute and chronic conditions through prescribing medications, physical therapy, ordering tests and therapies for patients, within their scope of practice. Many NPs have a DEA registration number that allows them to write prescriptions for federally-defined "controlled medications". Nurse practitioners may also bill Medicare, Medicaid, and private insurance for services performed. An NP can serve as a patient's "point of entry" health care provider, and see patients of all ages depending on their designated scope of practice. The core philosophy of the field is individualized care. Nurse practitioners focus on patients' conditions as well as the effects of illness on the lives of the patients and their families. Informing patients about their health care and encouraging them to participate in decisions are central to the care provided by NPs.

In 23 U.S. states, NPs work autonomously (American College of Nurse Practitioners), and may choose to open their own clinical practices. American NPs, according to the American College of Nurse Practitioners, are required in 28 states to practice in collaboration with and under the supervision of a physician, though they may prescribe medications in all U.S. states, commonwealths, districts, and territories; and carry a DEA number in most states.

Those that specialize in acute care, evaluate patients just as the emergency physician does. They're the same as PAs.





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