What You Ought To Know About Nurse Practitioner History

Many believe that the steady dwindling number of physicians specializing in primary care in the US, the increase in population of the country, and the growth of affordable health care are the key reasons behind the creation of the nurse practitioner profession. However, since there are only about 141,209 nurse practitioners in the US as of March 2004 (according to the initial findings of the National Sample Survey of Registered Nurses in 2004), not many are aware that there is such a profession as nurse practitioner.

What Exactly Is A Nurse Practitioner?

Quite a number of people think that an NP, short for nurse practitioner, is the same as a nurse or caregiver. Actually, the scope of work of a nurse practitioner is more similar to that of the family doctor or physician rather than nurses, midwives, physician's aides or caregivers. Basically, a nurse practitioner is a registered nurse who not only finished master's degree in nursing or advanced nursing program, but also undergone training in management, treatment and diagnosis of usual medical conditions, including chronic and acute diseases.

Armed with adequate clinical training and education, an NP can perform various tasks that a physician does, such as take medical histories and physical examinations, diagnose and treat patients, interpret X-rays and other laboratory results, and provide preventive health care services to anyone, regardless of age. It is important to note that nurse practitioners are more inclined to pay particular attention to preventive maintenance and health education and counseling.

Nurse Practitioner History

Early Years

Even as early as the 1940s, many physicians have already started to collaborate and seek help of nurses with strong clinical experience in administering primary care to patients. In the 40s, many nurses, as well as other people in allied medical field, have been tapped to provide primary care to the wounded and the sick particularly because of the events that occurred during that decade.

Since there was a rise in doctors who opted to specialize in various fields of medicine, the gap between the number of doctors who are doing primary care and the entire population of the United States became wider during the late fifties and early sixties. The need for primary care physicians was more felt in rural areas and in poor communities. The introduction of low cost primary care services, such as Medicaid and Medicare programs, in 1965 exacerbated the situation. Many people were now seeking for primary medical care, but only few doctors are able to meet the demand.

First NP Training Program

In order to help remedy the situation, nursing leaders suggested the expansion of the roles and duties of qualified and trained nurses. The first ever training for nurse practitioners was created by Henry Silver, a physician, and Loretta Ford, a nurse, in 1965. The training program at the University of Colorado concentrated on the prevention of diseases, and the promotion of health, particularly of families and children.

The first few years were rocky for nurse practitioners because many people, particularly some nursing leaders and physicians, were not keen on accepting the new model. The opposition felt that nurses were no longer performing their duties as nurses and that the title nurse practitioner was very vague, particularly because there was no certification process or formal training to become a nurse practitioner.

Documenting Nurse Practitioner Value

In the seventies, nurse practitioners started to legitimize and clarify the roles and duties of their profession. Documentation was created to show the society's great need for primary services. Furthermore, studies were also conducted to prove that both physicians and patients were satisfied with the services of nurse practitioners.

In the 1980s, a time when the cost of health services are being brought down and the number of physicians in the US has surged, nurse practitioners continue to conduct scientific studies to show that value of their profession.

In the nineties, NPs efforts to show the world that the primary care services that they provide are at par, if not better, to that of physicians came into fruition. Several articles in prestigious medical journals, including the Journal of the American Medical Association and Journal of Medicine of New England, showed that the services provided by NPs were not inferior to that which is provided by medical doctors.

Nurse Practitioner Profession Today

In the recent years, the number of nurse practitioners has steadily increased. The role of NPs, which was focused on primary care services, has now expanded to different areas. Furthermore, the National Council of State Boards of Nursing, in order to minimize confusion and to legitimize the profession, has set definite requirements in order to become practicing NPs. Nowadays, a person can become an NP only if he or she is a registered nurse, has finished a master's degree in nursing and has undergone proper clinical training.