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Nurse Practitioner Job Description

A nurse practitioner is a registered nurse who has advanced degrees in specific medical fields. Let us learn more about this job profile and salary it fetches.
Rujuta Borkar
A nurse practitioner's job has many facets to it. The term practitioner applies to those professionals who have the ability to carry on practice. This is only possible when a person has professional training and degrees backing them. Similarly, this job will involve them taking on varied duties in the field of medicine.

Educational Requirements

A nurse practitioner is required to have a degree in Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN). Along with that, they also need additional training and degrees in form of a Masters in Nursing Science or any other specialized nursing field that they choose to enter.

Duties

If you look at the duties of nurse practitioners in detail, you will find that there are varied types of roles that they perform. Some of these are:
  • The primary quotient of their job is that they are care givers. They administer patient care and treatment in facilities like health centers, clinics, hospitals or public health agencies under a physician's supervision.
  • Nurse practitioners (NP) are responsible for the examination of a patient and diagnosing his condition. Many times, they carry this out as a preliminary requirement, before the physician comes in for a checkup.
  • They are also responsible for studying and interpreting the tests and records of the patient.
  • They assess the clinical problems that a patient faces, as well as his health care needs.
  • They have to discuss and formulate proper and personalized health care plans for patients in consultation with the doctors, specialists and other medical professionals.
  • They study the condition of the patients and then decide the type of treatments that should be administered. This is done in consultation with the physician.
  • Since a he is a specialized nurse, it is possible for them to prescribe varied forms of drugs and other treatment methods to their patients. For example, the kind of therapy they should go in for.
  • They will advice patients to seek specialized medical help if their treatment requires that.
  • A specialized NP who has taken specialized degrees in certain medical fields is sometimes required to administer anesthesia in the operating theater.
  • They might undertake other specialized activities like assisting in deliveries and other medical procedures.
  • They will undertake other clinical duties, if they are asked to.
  • They have to answer queries of patients about their medical condition.
  • They also take calls from patients and answer their doubts or advice them in regard to their medical condition and what it actually means.
  • The involvement of a nurse practitioner with a patient depends on the state they practice in. In some states, a NP can work individually, while in others they have to work in consultation with the physicians.

Salary Range

There is no fixed salary range because it changes from state to state and according to their specialization and the kind of job that they take up. Those who work in areas like Acute Care, ICU tend to earn more than what they would in other fields. Similarly, NPs in schools or private practice are paid lesser than those in general and specialized hospitals.
Average salary for this profession has increased over the past few years and will continue to do so in the future as demand for them will increase with every coming year. The average salary of a fresher is about US $92,396 a year and for the one with moderate experience it is about US $100,617.
It is important that a nurse practitioner has good communication skills because he/she needs to interact with patients on a daily basis. So if you see yourself in this role fulfilling one of the medical jobs, you know what to do.