Doctors and Nurse Practitioners are both an integral part of the healthcare profession. Both roles involve consulting with patients, making diagnostic decisions, and providing the best possible treatment. However, they aren’t the same role!
We’ll go on to discuss what exactly it is that a nurse practitioner does, how it differs from the role of a doctor, and what the career opportunities are for healthcare professionals looking to take their careers to the next level, and considering Nurse Practitioner training.
What does a nurse practitioner do?
Nurse Practitioners are Registered Nurses who are educated to Masters level or higher and may work across various specialties. They have become increasingly essential to the healthcare system in America since the passing of the Affordable Care Act. The increase in patients requiring treatment has meant that having additional primary care providers has been an absolute necessity.
Typically Nurse Practitioners have been working as Registered Nurses for a long time, the average is over ten years, and decide to increase their level of qualification in order to allow them greater autonomy over the care of their patients. While Registered Nurses must act under the supervision of a Physician at all times, Nurse Practitioners have the autonomy to make treatment decisions and to steer the direction of the care of their patients.
This advanced level of nursing practice opens up various career paths, including prn travel nursing jobs in the US, where Nurse Practitioners can take on short-term assignments in different healthcare settings, contributing their expertise and providing high-quality patient care while enjoying the flexibility of travel nursing.
There’s really no such thing as a typical day in the life of a Nurse Practitioner. The role varies enormously depending on what your area of specialization is, what kind of hospital you are working in and where in the country you are located – among other things.
A Nurse Practitioner working in an Emergency Department in Nashville described their day as running between 10am and 6pm. They spent their day seeing patients, some with routine conditions and others with conditions requiring more detailed investigation. They emphasize the fact that they work hard but that they also enjoy the challenge and fun that the role brings and the flexibility of their schedule.
They see patients for the initial consultation and have the authority to order tests and prescribe medication. They are also called on as a provider to help when an emergency case is brought to the hospital, overseeing treatment for an acutely ill patient. In the case of the Nurse Practitioner, while they are able to make treatment decisions, they must also keep their supervising physician notified of any decisions that they make as ultimately responsibility lies with the physician. The level of responsibility the Nurse Practitioner has is determined at state level.
Can nurse practitioners work independently in Florida?
A bill was passed in June 2020 that allowed Nurse Practitioners to work independently.
The bill stated that advanced Nurse Practitioners with at least 3,000 hours of supervised experience could qualify to do things like issue prescriptions and also provide general family medicine, pediatrics, and general internal medicine.
In order to qualify, Nurse Practitioners will need to carry out graduate-level work to ensure that they are experienced enough.
The bill was passed as a way to ease the pressure on primary care providers. Nurse Practitioners already had the experience and knowledge needed to allow them to work in this way. The passing of the bill was seen as removing unnecessary red tape that kept them from working to their full potential.
Nurse practitioner salary expectation
Your salary expectations as a Nurse Practitioner will depend on your level of experience, where in the country you are working, what your specialization is, and what type of healthcare facility you are working in.
For example, if you are working in a busy research hospital in a city, the remuneration is likely to be much more competitive than if you were working in a small town health clinic. That being said, the cost of living is also likely to be lower in a small town, so it’s worth doing some research based on the salary expectations where you plan to live and work to get a full idea.
The average salary for Nurse Practitioners in the US is $115,800, which is more than double the average salary for other occupations.
By comparison, the average salary for physicians is $208,000 per year. However, the cost of education to become a physician is much higher, as physicians will need to obtain a Bachelor’s degree, attend medical school for 3-4 years and then spend another 3-7 years completing either a residency or an internship.
Is becoming a nurse practitioner a good career choice?
Nurse Practitioner jobs are predicted by the BLS (Bureau of Labor Statistics) to increase by 26% between 2018 and 2028, which is much faster than the average across other professions. This increase is due to the aging population and the growth in chronic conditions across the population, such as diabetes and addiction issues. This all means an increase in the need for primary care, which Nurse Practitioners are perfectly placed to provide. Training as a Nurse Practitioner is a great way to ensure that you have job security.
Additionally, US News has ranked Nurse Practitioner Careers as the #4 best healthcare job and the #5 Best Job overall, with a score of 7.6 out of 10. By comparison, physicians were ranked the #7 Best Job overall and the #5 Best Healthcare job.
Obviously, whether a career is a good fit for you is a personal and subjective matter. As with a lot of healthcare careers, working as a Nurse Practitioner comes with a high level of stress and responsibility. However, it also comes with a high level of satisfaction, as you are afforded autonomy in the care of your patients, and you can feel as though you are really making a difference to them. Nurse Practitioners also get great satisfaction from being able to become experts in their field, specializing in the area of medicine that means the most to them. The schedules are reported as being inflexible by some; this will largely depend on the organization that you are working for.
If you want to know whether becoming a Nurse Practitioner is a good career choice, it’s a good idea to reach out to Nurse Practitioners in your local healthcare organizations and speak to them about the pros and cons of their careers. That way, you can make an informed decision about whether it’s the right choice for you.
How to qualify as a nurse practitioner
To qualify as a Nurse Practitioner, you first need to be a qualified Registered Nurse. You will then need to obtain either a Master’s Degree or a Doctor of Nursing Practice.
This will qualify you to sit the licensure exam for your state. Generally, you will also need to have a set number of hours of supervised experience before you can apply for licensure; this will depend on the requirements for your state.
When choosing your program of study, it’s important to bear in mind your long term career goals. If you want to work as a Nurse Practitioner, focusing on patient care, then an MSN is enough to qualify you for licensure. However, if your aspirations are to work towards a leadership position in a healthcare organization or to work to shape the way that healthcare is delivered, then a DNP is designed to help you to achieve this.
A DNP program will include modules on healthcare economics, leadership and ethics, and healthcare technology, all of which are absolutely essential if you want to thrive in a leadership position. A DNP is also a good choice if you have aspirations of opening your own healthcare practice, as it will provide you with the grounding you need to run not just a successful healthcare facility but a successful business.
Many institutions are now running their MSN and DNP programs online, which is great news if you are working full time and wondering how on earth you would fit in any extra study!
Specializations for nurse practitioners
One of the great things about becoming a Nurse Practitioner is that you can choose to specialize in the area of medicine that most appeals to you. Some of the areas of specialism for a Nurse Practitioner are:
- Acute Care. Nurse Practitioners working in acute care work with patients who have acute or life-threatening health conditions. They will work as part of a wider healthcare team and make quick decisions that will determine the outcome for a patient. They can work with patients of any age. Working in acute care is a high-stress environment, but it also has the potential for a high level of satisfaction.
- Adult-Gerontology. Gerontology Nurse Practitioners will work with older patients. They might work in an acute role, specializing in the treatment of chronic and life-threatening health conditions, or they may work in a primary care role. A primary care role means looking out for long term health concerns of older patients. You might help patients to make lifestyle changes to keep them healthier for longer or diagnose and treat health problems.
- Family Nursing. Family Nurse Practitioners have a similar role to that of a physician. They will work with patients from all age groups, often seeing the same patients throughout their lives. They will provide diagnosis and treatment of health conditions and also provide advice and guidance on taking care of yourself and preventing health problems.
- Cardiac Nurse Practitioners take care of patients who are having trouble with their heart. This might be due to a congenital heart defect (CHD), high cholesterol, high blood pressure, or arrhythmias. The Cardiac Nurse Practitioner will be responsible for ordering and interpreting diagnostic tests, as well as collaborating with other medical professionals to decide the best treatment options.
- Neonatal. This area of Nursing Practice is the care of preterm infants or infants who have health conditions that need attention. As with other Nurse Practitioners, they will work as part of a larger healthcare term to carry out assessment, diagnosis, and provide treatment options. A large part of their role is also providing advice and support to the family.
- Oncology Nurse Practitioners work to support patients who are undergoing cancer treatment. They will work to ensure that patients receive all of the care and support they need, and they may also offer advice on cancer prevention.
Funding your studies
Many institutions will offer financial advice to prospective students, so it’s a good idea to speak with the school where you are considering taking up your program of study to see if they can offer advice.
It’s also worth checking with organizations like the AANP (American Association of Nurse Practitioners) as they will often offer scholarships, or at least be able to point you in the right direction!
Beginning in February 2021, the AANP will be offering the Loretta Ford Centennial Scholarship. This is a scholarship of up to $10,000 towards the tuition fees of Registered Nurses who are currently enrolled in an accredited Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) program. Applicants must have completed at least one semester of their current DNP program, have at least two years of paid work experience as an RN, and be scheduled to graduate in fall 2021 or later.
The scholarship has been created in order to honor the centennial of Doctor Loretta Ford, the pioneering Nursing leader who co-created the first Nurse Practitioner program alongside Dr. Henry Silver in 1965.
How do nurse practitioners benefit healthcare in America?
According to a recent study, the involvement of Nurse Practitioners in patient care had huge positive outcomes. When Nurse Practitioners are involved in care, the time to consultation and treatment is shortened, as is the patient’s length of stay in the hospital. Not only this, but mortality rates are lowered, patients are more satisfied, and there are significant cost savings.
It is theorized that the reason for this is the ‘patient-centric’ approach that Nurse Practitioners have to their work. Having first worked as Registered Nurses, they are used to working extremely closely with patients and being well attuned to their needs. This makes them excellent primary care providers and an essential part of healthcare teams.
