Talk:Nurse practitioner

Should there be a link to CNP in the entry and at the "see also"? All they do is loop back to this page

Its because (at least in the US) they refer to the same thing. Gtadoc 00:23, 17 July 2007 (UTC)

Americacentric

This is quite possibly the most americacentric article I've seen in a long, long while - we do have Nurse Practitioners in other parts of the world y'know! Will try to work in some stuff about NPs in the UK, does anybody else have any experience of them abroad? --John24601 20:48, 27 August 2006 (UTC)

"44 States"

Some sources say all nurse practitioners can prescribe medication in all 50 states. Is there a link to this anywhere?

Also some sources indicate that nurse practitioners need at least minimal physician supervision in all states Gtadoc 02:19, 18 June 2007 (UTC)

This article also needs to be changed to indicate what the scope of practice is for a NP, it makes it seem as they are same as a physician which is a dangerous and misleading inaccuracy.

Worldwide view

Someone tagged this article as saying it does not reflect a worldwide view. As far as I know "Nurse Practitioner" is a term only used in the US // it only reflects a US occupation. Thus I'm removing it for now 167.193.84.7 19:18, 26 February 2007 (UTC)

That tag appears to have been added by User:Lima Golf on 10th Jan 2007 - but I wuld agree with it. Nurse practitioner is a term used in the UK & I feel the article only reflects the view in the USA - particularly the sections relating to post-nominal letters & Education, licensure, and board certification. — Rod ^talk 19:49, 26 February 2007 (UTC)

This article most certainly reflects only the application of "nurse practitioner" in the United States. It does not reflect the rest of the English-speaking world and should state such.

So why not add nominal letters and education for nurse practitioners in the rest of the English-speaking world?

plagiarism?

a lot of the text on the wikipedia page for "nurse practitioner" is identical to the text on this page:

http://www.womenshealthchannel.com/nursepractitioner.shtml

If this (above) link is the original, shouldn't it -- at the very least -- be cited?

More important, the page is essentially an advertisement for nurse practioners, i.e. it's far from an objective discussion of what an NP is. I have nothing against NPs, but there should be a difference between an encyclopedia and an endorsement.

I agree, it also is missing some important information regarding scope of practice. It seems to want to make comparisions with physicians and does not communicate that NPs are mid levels and have a clearly defined scope of practice that is not the same or similar to a physicians.Gtadoc 02:52, 18 June 2007 (UTC)

Please post in the talk page if you wish to make changes to the page that alter the NP scope of practice. Several editors have tried to alter the page to make NPs appear to be basically physicians in all but name, this is not at all accurate. Gtadoc 20:07, 16 July 2007 (UTC)

good page

I liked the page on NPs and found most of the info accurate and concise. I refer prospective students to this page when they ask about what an NP is. In reading some of the comments, I disagree with "gtadoc", nurse practitioners are independent healthcare providers, and many have a scope of practice which is easily equal to that of a given physician. Physicians did not invent healthcare, nurses have been doing it just as long. In fact, we must ask ourselves if nursing, primarily a women's profession, would have progressed a bit faster if there had not been a large gender gap in our culture. Nurse practitioner's practice is expanding all the time, and often there are some physicians who feel threatened. Luckily, there are enough patients for all of us. At any rate, thanks for the page! —Preceding unsigned comment added by Achnp (talk • contribs) 01:36, August 29, 2007 (UTC)

I disagree with the statement that the scope is more or less equal; perhaps to what a first year resident would do but beyond that they are very different. It is different to say that they see similar types of patients and to say that they are capable of doing the same diagnosis/procedures. The first is true for the most part if speaking of a general practitioner (which is a dying breed) and to a lesser extent a family practitioner. It is not at all true for all other types of MDs. The second is defenately not true and will get an NP in trouble if he/she goes beyond their scope of practice and attempts to work as an MD while only being trained as an NP (or PA for that matter). Allgoodnamesalreadytaken 03:06, 13 September 2007 (UTC)

This page had some good infomation but I was really looking for the benefits of being a pediatric nurse and since this was the most closely related topic I settled for it. I was just hoping that someone might have some infomation about the benefits, I would really appreciate.

My email address is e.m.2009@hotmail.com

Thank you for your time. Sincerely, Emily. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 216.11.243.60 (talk) 13:40, 14 December 2007 (UTC)

Er...So where do NPs end and MDs begin?

Something the article really doesn't seem to answer (but instead leaves hanging): NPs, it sounds like, can do just about everything an MD can...So where the hell does an NP's scope of practice end and an MD's begin? --Penta 21:45, 25 September 2007 (UTC)

Actually, its more accurate to say that a NP can do everything a RN can do, plus a bit more. The gap between the NP and MD scope of practice (or PA and MD) is large, about what you would expect as the NP is only 1 year more training from the RN, while a MD does 4 years of medical school and then 3-7 years of residency and for specialists 1-3 years of fellowship. So, the 1 year difference in education between a RN and NP make them more similar than the 6-13 year difference in training between a NP and a MD. 129.82.217.44 (talk) 19:46, 23 December 2007 (UTC)

NPs and PA have the same scope/level of practice. They are the two "mid levels", only difference is the school track with NPs doing a nursing track and PAs doing a medicine track. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 129.176.151.7 (talk) 16:57, 9 February 2008 (UTC)

I would have to agree and disagree with much of the above.

its more accurate to say that a NP can do everything a RN can do, plus a bit more.

This is a fair statement. However the whole comparison between education of an NP to and MD is misleading. The education for an NP is not 1 year difference between and RN. Many RN's are Associate degree trained, in CA, US well over 50%. Though some are BSN's. A Current NP program requires an RN spend approx 2 years obtaining a masters degree. Then another year or more obtaining the NP certification. To top that, they are pushing the minimum requirement to be a DNP(Doctorate Nurse Practitioner). This will require another 12-18 months of education. The DNP is not designed to change the scope of practice for a NP however. As for the differences between the scopes of practice of an NP VS MD, there is a large difference. A NP takes on your daily healthcare needs, though severe cases are often passed on to an MD. Also, you seldom see a Surgical NP, though they can be a first assist with proper training. The scope of practice between an PA and NP, though similar, is also different. PA and NP fill a similar notch; however they are governed by different boards. PA's under the AMA, the NP's under nursing boards. PA's must always be under the supervision of an MD, where as NP's has the authority to practice independently in 23 US states, often more rural states. Other states are considering legislation to grant NP's more freedom to practice. Also, the educational training is different for an NP and PA. PA can in some places, still be a diploma certification, though Associate and higher degrees are more the norm. In the US all current NP programs are Masters Degrees. Which means that an NP must also have a Bachelors degree, normally a BSN, though there are some exceptions? NP and PA's are not MD's, though they are more and more taking over the position of an Family practitioner MD, while many MD's go into More profitable specializations. So basically, a NP, is not a PA, is not a MD, but they all work together in their prospective fields to serve health care. —Preceding unsigned comment added by MWJamesLDS (talk • contribs) 17:27, 4 April 2008 (UTC)

In Colorado I have come by very few RNs that did not have a BSN, it would be interesting to see a comparision to the scope of practice from a PA and NP, in our state in common practice they seem to be identical. In regards to PAs, it was my understanding that diploma programs had been discontinued, and that all PA programs where now bachelors degree+2 years PA school, so very similar if not more than the BSN+1-2 year NP?