The Nurse Practitioner (NP)

In the 1960’s the Nurse Practitioner (NP) role was formed secondary to there being a shortage of medical physicians and also because these physicians were inaccessible to patients depending on where they lived. Continuing education programs for this new role began to become available and eventually the American Nurses Association (ANA) created program guidelines. In 1965, the first NP program was developed at the University of Colorado which was for pediatric care. From there, education programs began to grow and offer programs for specialties, including primary and acute care (Kennedy, 2014). After completion of a specialty program, the NP must then pass a national certification examination in order to obtain a license. The exam is based

Scope of practice is a set of regulations and responsibilities that Nurse Practitioners may practice. These regulations are needed in order for NPs to practice safely and provide efficient patient care. The national certification exam is used to test each NP on their core knowledge of these standards. NP scope of practice does differ from state to state and each role is even more defined by the organization or hospital in which a NP is hired (Kleinpell, 2011). Furthermore, there is a set of boundaries for each NP specialty and in particular for this delineation Primary Care and Acute Care Nurse

Generally, a FNP works in a clinical setting and a AGACNP works in a hospital setting. A FNP usually treats patients in non- acute situations, like management of chronic illnesses and medications. An AGACNP usually treats patients in more critical and acute medical situations. In both roles though, the NP has the education to care for patients in acute and nonacute situations. For example, a NP in either role has these knowledge of how to treat patients with asthma or diabetes. There are many FNPs that work in acute care settings like an emergency room fast track. Since a FNP is educated on treatment of patients across the lifespan they are able to provide care to all patients in a fast track setting (National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties,