Family Nurse Practitioner
Family Nurse Practitioner
Family Nurse Practitioner
Healthcare in the United States in the 1950’s and 1960’s experienced an upheaval with the expanded availability of the Medicare and Medicaid programs and the increased specialization of medicine. The shortage in providing health care coverage to low-income women, children, the elderly, and people with disabilities gave clinically experienced nurses the opportunity to fill the primary care void. This was accomplished with the introduction of the first Nurse Practitioner program. The NP program was co-created in 1965 by a nurse educator, Loretta Ford, EdD, RN, PNP, and a physician, Henry Silver, MD, at the University of Colorado as a non-degree certificate program. The first Nurse Practitioners were met with opposition and skepticism from both nurses and physicians. Since then the Nurse Practitioner has evolved into a graduate level profession (either a Master's or a Doctoral degree). There are a variety of different types of practitioners: Adult Nurse Practitioner, Family Nurse Practitioner, Woman’s Health Nurse Practitioner, Neonatal Nurse Practitioner, Geriatric Nurse Practitioner, Pediatric Nurse Practitioner, Psych-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner, and Acute Care Nurse Practitioner. In the news today we see further development in the form of a proposal that requires all advanced practice nurse programs will require a Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) degree by 2015. Currently, NPs practice in every state, a myriad of settings and are a nationally accredited member of the healthcare team (Klein, 2007). The role of the Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP) is to provide quality individualized care by focusing on patients conditions, providing holistic care and disease prevention comparable to physicians. This is not limited to the patients themselves but also “the effects of illness on the lives of the patients and their families” (Sherwood, Brown, Fay, & Wardell, 2009). The
Family Nurse Practitioner
Healthcare in the United States in the 1950’s and 1960’s experienced an upheaval with the expanded availability of the Medicare and Medicaid programs and the increased specialization of medicine. The shortage in providing health care coverage to low-income women, children, the elderly, and people with disabilities gave clinically experienced nurses the opportunity to fill the primary care void. This was accomplished with the introduction of the first Nurse Practitioner program. The NP program was co-created in 1965 by a nurse educator, Loretta Ford, EdD, RN, PNP, and a physician, Henry Silver, MD, at the University of Colorado as a non-degree certificate program. The first Nurse Practitioners were met with opposition and skepticism from both nurses and physicians. Since then the Nurse Practitioner has evolved into a graduate level profession (either a Master's or a Doctoral degree). There are a variety of different types of practitioners: Adult Nurse Practitioner, Family Nurse Practitioner, Woman’s Health Nurse Practitioner, Neonatal Nurse Practitioner, Geriatric Nurse Practitioner, Pediatric Nurse Practitioner, Psych-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner, and Acute Care Nurse Practitioner. In the news today we see further development in the form of a proposal that requires all advanced practice nurse programs will require a Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) degree by 2015. Currently, NPs practice in every state, a myriad of settings and are a nationally accredited member of the healthcare team (Klein, 2007). The role of the Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP) is to provide quality individualized care by focusing on patients conditions, providing holistic care and disease prevention comparable to physicians. This is not limited to the patients themselves but also “the effects of illness on the lives of the patients and their families” (Sherwood, Brown, Fay, & Wardell, 2009). The
References: Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2009). Registered Nurses. Retrieved November 5, 2010 from http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos083.htm Klein, T. (2007). Scope of Practice and the Nurse Practitioner: Independent, Collaboration, Supervision: How is Your Scope Regulated? Martin, F. (2008). Why we do what we do: implementation of practice guidelines by family nurse practitioner students .O 'Brien, J. (2003). How Nurse Practitioners Obtained Provider Status: History of Nurse Practitioners Remedy Health Media. (2001). What is a Nurse Practitioner?. Retrieved November 5, 2010 from http://www.womenshealthchannel.com/nursepractitioner.shtml#adjump. Sherwood, G. D., Brown M., Fay V., & Wardell, D. (2009). Defining nurse practitioner scope of practice: Expanding primary care services Steiner, S.H., McLaughlin, D.G., Hyde R., Brown R.H., & Burman, M.E. (2008). Role transition during RN-to-FNP education