Health Careers
Nurse Practitioner
Professional Activities
Nurse practitioners are registered nurses (RNs) who have advanced education and clinical training in a health care specialty area. Nurse practitioners work with families and people of all ages. They provide care and information people need to improve their health and make informed decisions. Nurse practitioners may collaborate with physicians in a variety of settings, including hospitals, clinics, or schools, or they can practice in their own clinics.
In rural areas, nurse practitioners often practice independently, performing many of the health care duties usually provided by a physician. These duties include obtaining medical histories and performing physical examinations, diagnosing and treating acute health problems and chronic diseases, taking x-rays, performing lab tests, and prescribing medications and treatments. In addition, Nurse Practitioners provide prenatal care and family planning services, well-child care (including screening and immunizations), annual exams for adults, and health counseling and prevention services.
Nurse practitioners may specialize in areas such as: family practice, women’s health, occupational health, oncology, neonatal, pediatrics, geriatrics, or psychiatry. Increasingly, they work in specialty clinics, with allergists, gynecologists, cardiologists, and others. Career options are virtually unlimited, and include employment as instructors in clinical and university settings, in research, administration, and further education at the doctorate level.
Nurse practitioners work in both rural and urban settings. Some of these settings include: community health centers, hospitals, clinics, public health departments, nursing homes, physician offices, and school and college student health clinics. In rural Alaska, employment opportunities are increasing for Nurse Practitioners. Clinics in the smaller regional centers, and hospitals or community health programs in the larger regional centers, provide most of the jobs.
Educational Requirements
All nurse practitioners have training beyond a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) degree. An educational plan looks like this:
- Graduation from high school with a college preparatory background.
- Completion of a Bachelor of Science in Nursing to become a registered nurse.
- Completion of at least one year of fulltime nursing experience.
- Completion of a Master of Science in Nursing. Specializing as a Family Nurse Practitioner is becoming standard, but programs are available for nurse practitioners in pediatrics, women’s health, geriatrics, and others.
Academic Programs
The University of Alaska Anchorage’s School of Nursing has a master’s degree program for Registered Nurses (RN) who hold a bachelor’s degree. RNs may pursue a master’s degree in the specialty area of Family Nurse Practitioner or Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner.
University of Alaska Anchorage
School of Nursing
3211 Providence Drive
Anchorage, AK 99508
Contact: Dr. Barbara Berner, FNP
Phone: (907) 786-4503
Contact: Bernice Carmon (Psych)
Phone: (907) 786-4572
Fax: (907) 786-4559
Email:
Web site: http://nursing.uaa.alaska.edu/
Contacts
State Contact:
Alaska Nurse Practitioner Association (ANPA)
3701 E. Tudor Road, Suite 208
Anchorage, AK 99507
Phone: (907) 222-6847
Web site: http://www.alaskanp.org/
National Contacts:
American Academy of Nurse Practitioners
AANP National Administrative Office
PO Box 12846
Austin, TX 78711
Phone: (512) 442-4262
Fax: (512) 442-6469
Email:
Web site: http://www.aanp.org
American College of Nurse Practitioners (ACNP)
1501 Wilson Boulevard, Suite 509
Arlington, VA 22209
Phone: (703) 740-2529
Fax: (703) 740-2533
Email:
Web site: http://www.acnpweb.org
This page was last updated by Janice Troyer on June 23, 2008
