Definition and characterization of the NP role
In the USA, nurse practitioners (NPs) are autonomous medical practitioners who are licensed and mainly focus on managing health conditions and prevention of diseases. At advanced levels, the NPs often specialize in areas such as adult-gerontology , paediatric , women health among other. This paper asserts to discuss the characterization of the NP role.
NP was created more than five decades ago in the country , the role of the NPS has gradually and steadily evolved as the population, laws, and structure of the health sector changes . For an NP to practice, he or she must be a holder of a master’s degree. There is a set of regulation that outline the accrued preparation, required education, certificate, and licensure. The set of regulation is referred as the APRN consensus model, and according to the model, all the NPs should be educationally prepared to provide a wide array of medical services across health wellness-illness continuum to at least one population focus (Boyko, Carter & Bryant‐Lukosius, 2016). .
The characterization of NPs role can be view on the basis of the roles they play in the healthcare system. Notably, the role of NPs largely depends on their area of specialization. Primarily, NPs give acute, primary and specialty health care services to populations which are relatively diverse (Boyko, Carter & Bryant‐Lukosius, 2016). In this regard, they are authorized to treat conditions, diagnose diseases and illnesses and provide health education that is evidence-based . The primary approaches that the nursing practitioners (NPs) use in assessing patients include physical evaluations, examination of the medical history, and ordering diagnostic tests . In the field of nursing, the NPs are required to be involved in continuing education to ensure that they are up to date with technological and methodological changes and developments in the field.
References
Boyko, J. A., Carter, N., & Bryant‐Lukosius, D. (2016). Assessing the spread and uptake of a framework for introducing and evaluating advanced practice nursing roles. Worldviews on Evidence‐Based Nursing, 13(4), 277-284.