Nurse Practitioners

All nurses serve important roles within the health care community,
but nurse practitioners have a more in depth role in serving the needs
of patients. Most nurse practitioners have earned their Master’s degree
and are able to assist doctors in diagnosing illnesses as well as
administering treatment. Nurse practitioners are able to administer the
very same treatment that a regular doctor would, and they can help to
work with patients who have chronic or acute health problems. In some
states, nurse practitioners can work on their own without having to be
under the constant supervision of a doctor, and may even open and run
their own clinics, giving the job a much more prestigious reputation.
In all 50 states, nurse practitioners are able to administer
prescriptions to patients, which is why obtaining a degree in the field
is so important. They must also be completely board certified before
they can actually do many of these things.

The job duties
of nurse practitioners are different depending on their specialized
field or work environment. Some of these duties include things like
prenatal (newborn) care, screening and immunization administration,
conducting physical exams, and helping to interpret some basic test
results. Other duties include working closely with the physician to
help administer treatment, make diagnoses, and prescribe certain
medications and physical therapy as needed. Nurse practitioners are not
allowed to serve as surgical assistants, however. You can find them in
a variety of work environments such as hospitals, private clinics,
nursing homes, schools, walk-in clinics, veterans treatment centers,
and ER wards, just to name a few. The duties of a nurse practitioner
are many, and their background and experience is broad, making them a
desirable addition to any health care facility. The demand is high for
nurse practitioners who have a desire to help others in a clinical
setting.