Nurse Practitioners have many duties, such as performing physical exams and observing patients, perform and order diagnostic tests, give patients medicine and treatments. They serve as primary and specialty care providers, delivering advanced nursing services to patients. Nurse practitioners usually care for a certain population of people. For example, NP’s may work in adult and geriatric health, or psychiatric and mental health. They also assess patients and determine the best way to improve or manage a patient’s health, and discuss ways to integrate health promotion strategies into a patient’s life. They have the ability to manage/operate medical equipment. Although the scope of their duties varies some by state, many NP’s work …show more content…
independently, prescribe medications, and order lab tests. All nurse practitioners consult with physicians and other health professionals when needed.
How to become one
In order to become a Nurse Practitioner you must earn your master’s degree from an accredited program. Those programs include classroom education and clinical experience. You must have a registered nursing license before pursuing an education in this advanced role. In most states nurse practitioners have to pass a national certification exam, each state’s board will provide details. You also have to earn a second license depending on the type of patients you are going to be working with. In addition, NP’s might require certification in cardiopulmonary resuscitation, basic life support certification, and/or advanced cardiac life support. A major part in becoming a nurse practitioner is having certain qualities, such as
communication skills, u must be able to communicate with your patient to take on certain actions for their health or situation, critical thinking is another important quality you should have, along with compassion, being detail oriented, interpersonal, leadership, and resourcefulness skills. Some NP’s take on managerial or administrative roles, while others go into academia. NP’s who earn a doctoral degree may conduct independent research work in an interprofessional research team.
Work Environment
If you are a nurse practitioner you can work in offices of physicians, hospitals; state, local, and private, outpatient care centers, educational services; state, local, and private, and offices of other health practitioners.
For me personally I would work in an office of physicians because you are surrounded by the same people, like you have the same job and you could all get to know each other, it could be like a little community. 46% of NP’s work in that type of environment. NP’s can be both physically and emotionally demanding. Some NP’s spend most of their day on their feet. They vulnerable to back injuries because they must lift and move patients. The can be very stressful because they make critical decisions that can affect the patients, If you don’t make the right decision you can be sued. Because of the environment in which they work in, you may come in close contact with infectious diseases and other dangers, such as accidental needle sticks or patient outbursts. Most NP’s work full time. Nurse practitioners who work in physician offices typically work during normal business hours.
Pay
The average nurse practitioner as an annual salary of 107,460 a year. Where you work usually depends on your salary. For example, if you worked in a hospital you would make a lot more than an NP that works in an outpatient care center or offices of physicians.
Job
Outlook/Opportunities
The overall employment of nurse practitioners projected to grow 31 percent from 2016 to 2026, much faster then the average for all occupations. NP’s can perform many of the same services as physicians. NP’s will be increasingly utilized in team-based models of care, particularly in hospitals, offices of physicians, clinics, and other ambulatory care settings, where they will be needed to provide preventive and primary care. As states change their governing NP’s practice authority being allowed to perform more services. They are also becoming more recognized by the public as a source for primary healthcare. Overall, job opportunities for advanced practice registered nurses are likely to be excellent. NP’s will be in high demand, mostly in medically underserved areas such as inner cities and rural areas.
Why I Chose This Career
I chose this career because I am interested in maybe making this career one day. I’m very curious and interested in healthcare, I think it’s very interesting. Also my mom is a Nurse Practitioner and I wanted to find out more about her job. Something new that I learned from researching this career was the amount of education you need for this job. And yes after choosing this career it interests me even more than before.