With the restructuring of healthcare due to the Affordable Care Act and the shifting demography of the aging American population, health care providers are scrambling to find specialized practitioners to cover the avalanche of new patients.
To help fill this gap, advance practice nurses are becoming front-line managers in delivering health maintenance and disease prevention care. Frequently primary care providers, advance practice nurses are the prime leaders in increasing access to quality healthcare.
Job Duties
Advanced practice nurses are typically registered nurses who have obtained further education and licensure to manage health issues. These healthcare professionals make diagnoses, care for patients with acute illnesses and prescribe certain medications.
Also, advance practice nurses can perform physical exams and health screens, manage chronic conditions such as diabetes, provide prenatal care, teach and counsel patients, conduct and interpret diagnostic and laboratory tests, create care plans, promote wellness and coordinate referral care with specialists.
Education Requirements
Many advanced practice nurses start as registered nurses. The education and licensing requirements for registered nurses are different in all 50 states. For those who have a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Nursing, at least another two years of graduate school will be required to work as an advanced practice nurse.
Candidates who have their RN, but do not have a Bachelor’s degree, may want to tackle an accelerated master’s degree program which would help them earn both a Bachelor of Science degree and a Master of Science in Nursing degree in a three to four year timeframe. In addition, candidates must become state certified. To simplify this transition, distance and online learning degrees are available for working healthcare professionals in full and part-time, flexible formats.
The American Association of Colleges and Nursing, a national organization of nurses devoted to advancing nursing education, recommends that all new advanced practice nurses be educated at the doctoral level by 2015.
Growth Prospects and Salary
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the field of nursing is expected to grow 26% between 2010 and 2020. This growth will come from medical innovations and improvements, an increase in the senior population and the broadening of health care services to more of the population. The average salary in 2013 for Health Diagnosing and Treating Practitioners was reported to be $71,490.
Advance Practice Nursing Specialties
Under the umbrella of advanced practice nurses, there are four main areas of specialization including the following:
Nurse Practitioner
Often ground zero for patients in community clinics, schools and hospitals, nurse practitioners diagnose chronic illnesses, provide immunizations, help repair the injured, manage chronic illness and perform physical exams. In 2010, nurse practitioners earned on average $89,960.
Certified Nurse Midwife
In addition to delivering babies in hospitals, these professionals provide routine gynecological services and peri/post-menopausal care. Certified Nurse Midwives can work in hospitals, private homes, healthcare office practices and birthing centers. The 2013 median expected salary is $89,600.
Clinical Nurse Specialists
These professionals offer direct patient care in specialized medical areas such as cardiac, geriatric, oncology, neonatal, pediatric/obstetric, diabetic, psychiatric mental health and gynecological nursing. The range of their work can include diagnosing and treating diseases, injuries and disabilities. Clinical nurse specialists work in inpatient hospitals, home healthcare situations, long-term care centers, public health centers, and ambulatory care facilities.
Certified Nurse Anesthetist
Ranked as the fifteenth best job in America by CNNMoney, certified nurse anesthetists deliver anesthetics in a variety of settings including traditional surgical hospitals, obstetrical delivery rooms, ambulatory surgical centers, offices of dentists, podiatrists, ophthalmologists, plastic surgeons, and pain management specialists. Certified nurse anesthetists are the sole providers of anesthesia in 1/3 of U.S. hospitals. In 2012, the median salary for certified nurse anesthetists was $148,160.
