Nurse Practitioners (APN) and registered nurses (RNs) assist patients, families, and communities in achieving, keeping, and recovering optimal health, educating patients, and delivering treatment.
As a nurse, you provide health care services to patients and their families and use your skill and experience to restore health and prevent illness. As a registered nurse, you advocate for those within the health care delivery system. You educate, care, counsel, nurture and restore stability to a patient. Your key responsibilities are to assess a patient’s needs, deliver prescribed medication, diagnose a problem or the need for further diagnoses, plan care or intervention, implement interventions and evaluate success. For example, if a patient has shortness of breath after treatment, you will create a regimen such as walking each day or teaching breathing techniques to a patient. You also alert treating physicians as to changes in patient status.
As an advanced nurse practitioner, you may provide primary care or specialize in geriatrics, oncology, family practice, mental health, or another specialist area. Your certification could be to practice in a specific field such as oncology. Your responsibilities include patient education and counseling, treatment and diagnosis, monitoring chronic conditions, taking medical histories, performing physicals. Advanced practice nurses also prescribe medication. Unlike physician’s assistants, advanced nurse practitioners are not required to have a supervising physician to practice in most circumstances.
