A nurse practitioner is a registered nurse but has gained additional educational qualification and training and is specialised in a particular area like family practice or paediatrics. Basically the job of a nurse practitioner is to provide health care on a regular basis to Paediatrics and monitor their treatments and development so that it can be reported to the paediatrician, the job of the nurse practitioner can be in hospitals, during deliveries in operation theatre,work in NICU’s and work in specially arranged camps like health check-up camps or immunisation camps.
Nurse practitioners are basically advanced practice nurses who have master degree in have a master’s degree in nursing (MS or MSN) and board certification for the specialty trained area. For example, a paediatric NP has advanced education, skills, and training in caring for infants, children, and teens.
A nurse practitioner is a Licensed and registered nurses, and a nurse practitioner needs to follow the rules and regulations of the Nurse Practice Act of the state at workplace. And must be accredited by the national board exam, the nurse practitioner is considered as an additional credential like an Certified Paediatric Nurse Practitioner (CPNP) or Certified Family Nurse Practitioner (CFNP).
The job of a nurse practitioner is very responsible and the person in the job has to be an alert and caring and must be interested in serving others, especially those who are sick or suffer health issues and must be able to manage stress, willingness to work for long hours and must havehands-on experience through internships in the field.
Some of the other responsibilities of a nurse practitioner who is specialised in specific areas can be
- Maintain the documents of health history and perform a physical exam
- Must perform some tests and procedures that are required in treatment
- Answer questions about health problems of the patients to the other doctors or the relatives this is done only by being aware of the treatment offered and recording the development
- Must be able to treat common illnesses and must be able to deliver the service in and on time.
- Teach families about the effects of illness on a patient and also suggest the diet and nutrition of the patient to the family members and ways of providing necessary treatments at home.
- Help to understand the prescriptions give injections to the patients.
- Order medical tests and diagnostic tests for the patients and monitor the reports and report to the doctor.
- Supervise and teach other health care members and sub-ordinates about the work.