6 Things You Should Know About Nurse Practitioners
1. All Nurse Practitioners must complete a master’s or doctoral degree program and have advanced clinical training beyond their degree completion. Through didactic and clinical courses, Nurse Practitioners are equipped with specialized knowledge for primary and acute care.
2. Nurse Practitioners can specialize in many areas. These include acute care, adult care, family health, gerontology health, neonatal health, oncology, pediatric care, psychiatric/mental health and women’s health. Within these specialties, there are sub-specialties such as cardiovascular, allergy and immunology, orthopedic, dermatology, endocrinology, neurology, occupational health, and more.
3. They can do everything a Doctor can do such as diagnosing patients and prescribing medications. The only difference is accessibility. Currently only 21 states allow Nurse Practitioners to work independently without the supervision of a Doctor. Idaho is one of them. Since there is this restriction on NP’s in other states, it can sometimes impair their ability to help their patients. NP’s are currently working with the government to lift these restrictions.
4. They have a different approach to medicine. What set’s NP’s apart from other health care providers is there unique emphasis on the health and well being of the whole person. They focus on disease prevention, health education, and supporting patients to make smart lifestyle choices.
5. They provide high quality, low cost health care. In studies done by the American Association of Nurse Practitioners, NP’s consistently had higher patient satisfaction, fewer unnecessary hospital visits, and fewer potentially preventable hospital visits than compared to other physicians.
6. There are many different types of certifications that NP’s can get, depending on the specialty that they choose. For instance, DNP stands for Doctor of Nursing Practice which means that they received a doctorate degree. FNP stands for Family Nurse Practitioner which allows them to offer a wide range of healthcare services that are focused on the family unit. If you want to learn more about the different kinds of nursing roles, go to this link.
As you can see, Nurse Practitioners offer a wide range of health care services similar to what Doctors are able to provide. At Center for Lifetime Health we have two Nurse Practitioners: Colleen Shackelford, NP-C and Terryn Martin, DNP, APRN, FNP-C. These ladies consistently provide patient-centered care to every person they see. If you are interested in having Colleen or Terryn as your PCP, please let us know! They are eager to meet you and your family!
