Health Care Team (HCT)

Nurse Practitioners are licensed independent practitioners who practice in ambulatory, acute, and long-term care as primary and/or specialty providers. They are advanced practice nurses who provide high quality health care services similar to those of a doctor.

Nurse Practitioners order, conduct, supervise, and interpret diagnostic studies and diagnose and manage a range of health conditions. Their management includes prescribing of both pharmacologic and non-pharmacologic therapies. Teaching and counseling are major components of Nurse Practitioner practice.

Entry-level preparation for Nurse Practitioner practice is at the master’s, post-master’s, or doctoral level.

Nurse Practitioners are independently licensed providers who practice autonomously and in collaboration with other health care professionals. They practice under the rules and regulations of the state in which they are licensed. The need for collaborative agreements is specified, if applicable, by state rules/regulations.

The Nurse Practitioner’s daily activities are dependent upon the practice setting. The majority of Nurse Practitioners are primary care providers in ambulatory care settings. In these settings, Nurse Practitioners typically manage their own panel of patients, by appointment.

Nurse Practitioners must maintain a license to function in their advanced practice role. Most states require certification, and almost all Nurse Practitioners maintain national board certification. Nurse Practitioners must also maintain their registered nurse (RN) license.

Patients in any setting would benefit from the care of a Nurse Practitioner. The largest Nurse Practitioner specialties are family and adult health. However, Nurse Practitioners serve in other specialties, including gerontology, neonatology, pediatrics, mental health, women’s health, oncology, and acute care. They practice in private Nurse Practitioner and physician practices, school and college health programs, rural and community health centers, hospital inpatient and outpatient practices, employee/occupational health services, long-term care settings, and emergency/urgent care settings. A number of Nurse Practitioners provide care in subspecialties.

The majority of the time, the Nurse Practitioner is a patient’s primary provider. The patient either seeks the Nurse Practitioner as his or her provider or is referred to the Nurse Practitioner by other providers.