Nurse Practitioners (NP) are bachelors degree prepared registered nurses that have extensive training, education and experience to work at an advanced competency well above registered nurses. An NPs scope of practice is considered advanced for nurses which includes skills and capabilities that were, at one time, solely within the domain of medical doctors. These advanced skills are diagnosing diseases and other physical and mental conditions, prescribing medications including opioids and other schedule one medications, providing requisitions for diagnostic testing and blood work as well as conducting minor office procedures like excisions and suturing. 

Like any other medical professional, each NP has a baseline of competencies acquired through general training, then via experience and successive education/ training, an NP can acquire additional skills and competencies for example, setting broken bones or managing chronic and acute pain with opioids.

This is a very brief explanation of NP care, how we compare, and differentiate from our professional colleagues, medical doctors and registered nurses. NPs are unique health care professionals in that we have the best of both worlds, we are first and foremost nurses, with our own unique experience and knowledge attained as Registered Nurses and we are NPs, the ability to diagnose, prescribe, treat and refer to specialists. This unique combination of skills permits NPs to provide care to a greater scope for people to have more access to and choice of care.