The Board of Registered Nursing defines the nurse practitioners as “registered nurses who are prepared by advanced education to provide primary care including medical procedures that may be required for a specialty area “(BRN, 2012).
Additionally, nurse practitioners must ”possess additional preparation and skills in physical diagnosis, psycho-social assessment, and management of health illness needs in primary health care and who have been prepared in a program conforming to board standards” (BRN, 2012). Advanced practice nursing, simply said, is a licensed registered nurse who has completed graduate training as a clinical nurse specialist, nurse anesthetist, nurse-midwife, or nurse practitioner. (Medical-Dictionary, 2012). The nurse practitioner is managed by standards in collaboration with the supervising Physician. The advanced practice nurse, is first and foremost a nurse. This role carries life experiences from hospital to clinical settings. The registered nurses role sets the basis for expanding the nurse practitioner role. This expanded role allows the family nurse practitioner to examine, assess and treat patients under the doctor's supervision. They can function in much the same way as a physician but does not have the same license or education as a doctor. Ylisela states, “In a family practice, the nurse practitioner sees patients of all ages for routine physical examinations as well as for illnesses and minor injuries. The family nurse practitioner assesses any medical conditions the patient is suffering from, then formulates a treatment plan for the patient”. On occasion, the treatment plan may require the family nurse practitioner to refer the patient for therapy or consultation for a specialist.

The family nurse practitioner must document her findings of a patient’s condition as well as results of diagnostic tests, such as x-rays and labs. She is responsible for adding a treatment plan and documentation to the patients’ medical chart to serve as a communication tool between the nurse practitioner, other healthcare workers and physicians who may be involved in the patient's treatment. This detailed information is important to add to patients’ medical history so it will be available for future doctors visits.

The family nurse practitioner often has to work as part of a medical team. “Because the family nurse practitioner works under the supervision of the attending physician, she must have good communication skills and work well with other health care professionals (Ylisela, 2012) She must share her knowledge with other medical professionals as well as discuss a patient's condition in order to facilitate a treatment plan. The family nurse practitioner develops a treatment plan for a patient, discusses it with the physician in charge and receives the physicians’ advice and approval. In addition to working closely with the physicians, the family nurse practitioner regularly works with a variety of specialists, nurses, therapists, x-ray technicians and many other medical staff members. 



My ultimate career goal is to teach. I would like to teach in an outpatient clinic for the underserved. It brings me great pleasure when one of my patients understands what is going on with their condition, where they may not have understood it fully in the past. As a nurse or nurse practitioner, we are always in the role of “teacher”. I feel with an advanced degree it will open doors to learning, therefore allowing me to pass on the knowledge, knowledge is truly power. I will also be better prepared to answer patient questions and lead them into understanding the nature of their illnesses.

Works Cited

California. Board of Registered Nurses. “Family Nurse Practitioner”. rn.ca.gov . 2008.

Web. 6 June 2012.

The Free Dictionary. “Advanced practice nurse” Retrieved June 6, 2012 from:

http://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/advanced+practice+nurse

Ylisela,Mary. “Family Nurse Practitioner Role & Responsibilities”. Ehow.com.

ehow.com, 2012. Web. 6 June 2012