Nurse Practitioners (NP) provide a full range of primary, acute and specialty health care services, including:
- Ordering, performing and interpreting diagnostic tests such as lab work and x-rays.
- Diagnosing and treating acute and chronic conditions such as diabetes, high blood pressure, infections and injuries.
- Prescribing medications and other treatments.
- Managing patients’ overall care.
- Counseling.
- Educating patients on disease prevention and positive health and lifestyle choices.
What Makes Nurse Practitioners Unique?
- What sets NPs apart from other health care providers is their unique emphasis on the health and well-being of the whole person. With a focus on health promotion, disease prevention and health education and counseling, NPs guide patients in making smarter health and lifestyle choices, which in turn can lower patients’ out-of-pocket costs.
- Internationally recognized Cochrane Review has shown NPs provide as good quality and, in some cases, improved care compared to physicians.
Lower Health Care Costs
- By providing high-quality care and counseling, NPs can lower the cost of health care for patients. For example, patients who see NPs as their primary care provider often have fewer emergency room visits, shorter hospital stays and lower medication costs.
Patient Satisfaction
- With more than 870 million visits made to NPs each year, patients report an extremely high level of satisfaction with the care they receive.
Primary Care Shortage Solution
- By offering high-quality, cost-effective, patient-centered health care, NPs provide the needed solution to the primary care shortage facing America today.