The Certified Registered Nurse Practitioner has achieved the most advanced degree in their chosen field of nursing.
Loretta Ford, RN, and Henry Silver, MD established the designation of Nurse Practitioner, in 1965. They started the very first nurse practitioner program at the University of Colorado. Physicians felt threatened and went on the defensive, claiming nurses were practicing medicine. Nurses argued that they had become the maidservants of physicians. These were tumultuous times!
We all owe Loretta, Dr. Silver and the thousands who entered the program a huge debt of gratitude. It took a great deal of courage to enter this fledgling profession. The dedication, determination and outstanding performance of these early program graduates insured the NP an integral role in modern health care
Today, Loretta Ford, RN, PNP, FAAN, FAANP, now 89 years of age and recognized founder of the nurse practitioner, has lived to see the numbers of NP’s swell to 150,000 in the United States. She is currently a professor and dean emeritus of the University of Rochester. In recent comments she stated, “The idea of delivering care to the uninsured and insured will involve a lot of nurse practitioners, because there’s no way our current resources will provide that gateway to healthcare,” she says. “NPs will play a big part in introducing the idea of wellness and prevention into the system.” She also sees an expanding role for the NP under healthcare reform.
What is the role of the Nurse Practitioner?
I have outlined the scope of the Nurse Practitioner’s functions below. They are taken from the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners standards for practice.
Provide primary health care services to individuals, families, groups of clients, and communities
NP care is characterized by an emphasis on health promotion and disease prevention
NPs may order, conduct, and interpret appropriate diagnostic and laboratory tests and prescribe pharmacological agents, treatments, and non-pharmacological therapies
Educating and counseling individuals and their families regarding healthy lifestyle behaviors
It is certain that the NP will play an increasingly important role in the health care delivery system, no matter what form it takes in the post health care reform environment. The role played by NP is an ideal fit for current health care philosophy, which embraces the importance of prevention. Such chronic illnesses as Type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease, for example, can be prevented in significant numbers.
The greatest problem we need to resolve today, so that we can effectively incorporate present and future nurse practitioners into the health care delivery system is inconsistency of regulation among the states.
There are three major roadblocks that need addressed, perhaps on a federal level. They are…
Third party reimbursement for services
Prescriptive authority
Hospital admission privileges
These impediments to the profession need to be addressed for the Nurse Practitioner’s role to be fully realized.
Perhaps Loretta Ford herself best summarized the dreams of nurses of all stripes when she said, “And if we have a healthy population, then we will have an opportunity to help the rest of the world.”