Assignment: Nurse Practitioner

Assignment: Nurse Practitioner
Assignment: Nurse Practitioner
Assignment: Nurse Practitioner
Discussion week 1 Week 1: Discussion- Foundation of the Role of the Nurse Practitioner as Prescriber Legal and Professional Issues in Prescribing 5 5 unread replies. 5 5 replies. Describe NP practice in your state. Tell the class what your state laws are related to nurse practitioner prescribing. Include how many continuing education hours are required for your state. Describe the importance of knowing the specific laws in your state pertaining to Nurse Practitioners prescribing medications.
A nurse practitioner (NP) is an and a type of . NPs are trained to assess patient needs, order and interpret diagnostic and laboratory tests, diagnose disease, formulate and prescribe treatment plans. NP training covers basic disease prevention, coordination of care, and health promotion, but does not provide the depth of expertise needed to recognize more complex conditions. According to the American Association of Nurse Practitioners, NPs are educated at the to provide “primary, acute, chronic, and specialty care to patients of all ages”, depending on their field of practice.
The for a nurse practitioner is defined by legal jurisdiction. In some places, NPs are required to work under the supervision of a , and in other places they can practice independently.
To become an NP requires experience as a registered nurse in addition to a graduate degree.
The amount and quality of education required to be an NP has been the subject of controversy in the United States. Opponents of independent practice have argued that NP education can consist of online coursework with few hours of actual patient contact. To become an NP requires between 1.5 to 3 years of training, in addition to prior training and experience as an RN, though there are alternate routes to training. This is in comparison to physicians who are required to complete a minimum of 7 years of post-baccalaureate training. A new nurse practitioner may have between 500 and 1,000 hours of clinical training, compared with a , who would have more than 15,000 hours of clinical training by the time of certification. The quality of education and of applicants for NP schools has been cited as a reason to not allow NPs to practice medicine autonomously. Some graduate nursing schools have 100% acceptance rates.