Who Are Nurse Practitioners and
What Do They Do?

Nurse practitioners are registered nurses with advanced education and training. They are qualified to evaluate, provide, and coordinate comprehensive personalized health care. Many NPs practice independently in their own offices or clinics; others serve as part of a team of health care professionals.

As primary health and specialty care professionals, NPs focus on preventive health care, emphasizing the individual's responsibility for self care while providing any of the following health care services:

• Perform physical examinations.
• Diagnose and treat common acute illnesses such as earaches, sore throats, bladder infections; and chronic illnesses such as diabetes, hypertension, depression, using medications and other treatments.
• Provide well-child care, including screening, immunizations, and parental counseling.
• Provide comprehensive women's health care, including pap smears, prenatal care, and family planning.
• Order and interpret diagnostic tests including x-rays, electrocardiograms, and laboratory tests.
• Screen for problems that should be referred to other health care professionals, such as a medical doctor, nutritionist, dentist or psychologist.
• Provide health care education. Provide mental health counseling for individuals and families.
• Encourage disease prevention to curb health care costs.
• Assist individuals in learning problem solving skills and achieving personal growth.
• Perform procedures such as minor office surgery, apply casts and splints, and suture lacerations.

Nurse practitioners are committed to serving people in a way that will contribute to the wellness of humankind.

• NP's focus on the individual as a person, encouraging clients to take responsibility for their own well-being.
• NPs emphasize education and preventive health care allowing for more cost-effective care.
• NPs promote health care behavior changes based upon an understanding of personality, lifestyle, and culture.
• NPs practice with consideration of the effects that health problems have on individuals and their families.
• NPs emphasize self-care, promoting healthy life style choices and health care decisions.
• NP services are covered by most insurance companies.

NPs practice in the following professional environments:

• Health centers
• Health departments
• Hospitals and clinics
• Group health practices
• Private practice
• Correctional institutions
• School and college health centers
• Nursing homes and hospices
• Urban areas
• Rural areas
• House call services and home visits
• Mental health centers
• Research centers
• Employee health clinics
• Armed forces and Veteran's Affairs facilities

NPs are certified by the Oregon State Board of Nursing. The following are required for initial certification:

• Licensure as a Registered Nurse;
• A Masters Degree in Nursing;
• Certification from an approved NP education program including over 480 hours of supervised clinical practice.

Nurse Practitioners may prescribe medications if they meet Oregon State Board of Nursing Requirements for Pharmacology education.

In Oregon, only those who meet the above educational requirements are entitled to be called Nurse Practitioners. To keep pace with rapid changes in health care technology, NPs must meet the following criteria to renew their certification every 2 years:

• 1500 hours of clinical practice in the preceding 5 years;

• Maintain National Certification according to the requirements of the American Nurses Association;
  or
• Complete a minimum of 100 hours of Continued Professional Education.

Nurse Practitioner Specialties

Adult Nurse Practitioner
Attends to health needs from adolescence through advanced age.

Certified Nurse-Midwife
Provides health care to women during pregnancy, birth, and after birth; and manages newborn health needs.

College Health Nurse Practitioner
Provides health care to college students.

Family Nurse Practitioner
Provides health care to individuals ranging in age from newborn to elderly adults.

Geriatric Nurse Practitioner
Specializes in health care needs of persons 55 years of age or older.

Pediatric Nurse Practitioner
Provides health care to children from birth to 18 years of age.

Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner
Assesses and treats problems of individuals and families that relate to emotional and mental health.

Women's Health Care Nurse Practitioner
Provides management of health problems in obstetrics and gynecology.

What is the History of Nurse Practitioners?

In the early 1960's, a physician-nurse team from the Department of Pediatrics, at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center in Denver originated the concept of nurse practitioner. They demonstrated that nurses, with their high level of competence, were capable of providing more extensive health services than previously allowed.

In Oregon, the Nurse Practice Act was expanded in 1975 to include nurse practitioners and define certification/recertification processes. THis law states that NPs are independent professionals working in collaboration with other health care professionals.

In 1979, the Oregon State Legislature passed a bill granting authorization for NPs to prescribe medications. The same law also allows NPs to be directly reimbursed by insurance companies.

By 1990, more than 800 NPs were certified by the Oregon State Board of Nursing.