This past November 9 through the 15th was a special week for nurse practitioners throughout the United States. That’s because it was National Nurse Practitioner week with this year’s theme being, “Your Partner in Health – The Nurse Practitioner”~The reason for this was because this was National Nurse Practitioner week and the theme this year was ‘Your Partner in Health The Nurse Practitioner’~This week was National Nurse Practitioner week and for this year’s theme, they chose ‘Your Partner in Health The Nurse Practitioner’. The healthcare community all over the country was celebrating and recognizing this position and doing all they could to promote it as a career choice for others. Indeed, it is a growing field which is experiencing greater opportunities for nurse practitioners to be more directly involved in patient care.

Nurse practitioners are registered nurses who have pursued additional education for specific specialties and are licensed to perform many of the tasks required by routine care. They can write prescriptions, make routine diagnoses, and even run standard diagnostic tests. Most doctors would agree that nurse practitioners these days are a fantastic asset but a lot of clinics are also in operation run solely by nurse practitioners and patients can receive primary care here.

Appalachian Nurse Practitioner Clinic

If you want to see a fine example of nurse practitioner clinics then you need only look to Georgia to the Appalachian Nurse Practitioner Clinic. The clinic was opened in 2006 and has since provided services to roughly 5,000 patients. The clinic was set up to provide primary care for patients living in the area and was established with help from the HRSA (Health Resources and Services Administration)~The HRSA (Health Resources and Services Administration) helped the clinic to get established so that patients in the surrounding area could avail of primary care. The great thing about this clinic and why it is so successful is that patients can get nearly all the same services that their local doctor would provide but the cost is significantly lower.

There are more and more nurse practitioner clinics being opened in the country all the time and this is in order to meet the surging rise in demand for health care that is affordable. The HRSA is offering grants for further development of such clinics. A further grant of $1.8 million has just been provided to the Appalachian clinic so that it can expand its operations. By supporting nurse practitioner clinics the HRSA hopes to make affordable health care accessible to people with limited financial resources.

Canada is Seeing Much of the Same Happening

Although some would prefer if nurse practitioner clinics were appearing more quickly here in the States, in Canada, the idea is spreading like wildfire. We have just seen a new clinic opened with an annual capacity of over 3,000 patients; this was opened this week in Saulte St. Marie. And in Ontario, the government has developed a program that aims to encourage more and more of these clinics to open because it wants its citizens healthcare needs to be met. It is these clinics which are starting to become part and parcel of the Canadian healthcare system.

Becoming a nurse practitioner is something that you should consider if you want to work in healthcare. There are many different areas that you could specialize in such as urology, family practice, cardiology and pediatrics. And with the current nationwide shortage of healthcare professionals of all disciplines, there will be plenty of work available for many years to come. This is one job where you will be rewarded with an excellent salary, stability and personal satisfaction.