Nurse Practitioners Stay Strong In An Evolving Profession

Nurse practitioners are diversely skilled, highly qualified professionals that are increasing in demand in hospitals and medical facilities throughout the nation. The position is patient-centered, stressing both care and cure, and encompasses primary care, preventative medicine, and patient education.

Originally created in 1965 to help balance rising healthcare costs, increase the number of healthcare providers, and more efficiently distribute health resources, the position has been in a rapid state of evolution ever since. As of 2011, there were approximately 140,000 practicing nurse practitioners in the United States, with about 9,000 additional NPs prepared annually nationwide.

Increasing Demands For Nurse Practitioners

Today's nurse practitioners are more qualified than ever, with graduate, advanced education, and clinical training that exceeds their registered nurse preparation. Depending on state requirements (and the nurse practitioner's preference as they advance their career), most NPs also have master's degrees, and many also have post-masters certifications and doctorates. The nurse practitioner curriculum now includes specific course on the practitioner-patient relationship and psychoeducation, making them distinct in their skill set from psychiatrists.

The American Academy of Nurse Practitioners' Statement On Curriculum (2003) now reinforces the need for a master's degree in nursing. It also advocates training in psychiatric assessment, diagnosis, treatment, and pharmacology, as well as practice-related licensing exams.

Depending on state regulations, nurse practitioners can also serve partially or fully as a replacement for a primary care physician, and is, at the very least, a vital and welcome supplementary position for an established primary care physician. To date, there are more than 50,000 NPs in full-time practice across the United States, working primarily as family nurse practitioners, adult nurse practitioners, and as pediatric nurse practitioners.

Working In A Locum Tenens Nurse Practitioner Job

As nurse practitioner requirements become increasingly stringent, and more positions are created, demand exceeds the existing pool of qualified professionals by a significant margin. The situation is further complicated by the current distribution of available professionals, which does not align with where they're needed.

Locum tenens nurse practitioners help to allay much of this staffing crisis through their willingness to continually relocate from one facility to the next. This keeps highly qualified professionals distributed in the areas of greatest need throughout the nation, and makes the best use of existing professionals. On the locum tenens' side, they benefit by enjoying paid travel, higher salaries, and the professional enrichment that comes with being exposed to a broad spectrum of facilities across the USA.

However, the nurse practitioner field is often a complicated one, and switching from one job to the next continually does not lend itself to consistent healthcare, paid vacations, a 401k plan, or other benefits. As a further challenge inherent to locum tenens, each state has its own specific (and continually changing) set of regulations regarding the profession - which can vary in detail and stringency wildly.

To help maintain uninterrupted employment and benefits, as well as the hassle of sorting out the requirements for the profession in each state, many locum tenens will work with an agency. In this arrangement, they effectively become an employee of the agency, which handles these challenges so the nurse practitioner can focus on their work.