Nurse Practitioner Job Description

Doctors used to work more than one hundred hours a week and sometimes shifts longer than twenty-four hours. This was changed due to the Libby Zion Case, where an eighteen-year-old college student named Libby Zion died due to what her father believed to be overworked interns and doctors. A medical professional is now allowed to work no more than eighty hours a week and must not work a shift longer than twenty-four hours. Doctors are able to diagnose a person with ailments and prescribe medications. Doctors also may refer patients with diseases such as cancer or brain injuries to other doctors who have specialties in that area, such as oncologists or neurologists. According to a study conducted by the American Medical Association in February of 2017, of the one thousand two hundred doctors, residents and interns interviewed nine out of ten were satisfied and happy with their career choice. The study also names that some reasons why doctors chose to become doctors as their career. The top reasons named are how they or a loved member of their family were treated or for personal experience as a volunteer. A nurse practitioner is a person who is trained, independent, licensed healthcare clinician and focuses on managing a person’s health conditions, including treating illnesses and injuries. They also support injury prevention. Nurse practitioners can also prescribe medication.

The majority of nurse practitioners have a specialty in which they practice in. Some of these specialties that are common choices are pediatrics, family practices, and women’s health. Sub-specialties may even be chosen and are in areas such as oncology, dermatology, psychiatry, cardiology and behavioral health. To become a nurse practitioner, you must first obtain an undergraduate degree in nursing. You must then gain experience as a registered nurse. The next step to becoming a nurse practitioner is to earn a graduate degree. This could be a Master’s of Science in Nursing, or MSN, or a Doctor of Nursing Practice, or DNP. MSN’s are typically two to three years full time, and focus on advanced nursing subjects such as pharmacology and pathophysiology. DNP’s, however, are typically three to four years long, more clinically focused than research, and focuses on a deeper understanding of MSN subjects, including coursework in evidence-based practice, diagnostics, and disease treatment. There is a small movement toward a required DNP to become a nurse practitioner, but the majority of states still require just an MSN degree. After a graduate degree is acquired, a person must pass a Nurse Practitioner license test. To be a candidate for Nurse Practitioner licensure, a person must hold a master’s degree in nursing, a valid RN license.

Nurse practitioners work in private practices and in hospitals. There is currently a nursing shortage which means that there is an abundance of nurse practitioner jobs available. Hospital have begun to hire more nurse practitioners to offset the amount of work and pressure that are put on other hospital personnel. Nurse practitioners earned an average of $97,990 as of May 2014 according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. One of the highest paid specialties for nurse practitioner is Certified Registered Nurse Anesthesiology. CRNA’s make an average of $153,780 a year as of May 2014. A survey conducted by Medstudy Nurse Center found that out of 3,417 nurse practitioners an tremendous number said that they are happy with their choice to become a nurse. According to this study, eighty two percent of nurse practitioners claimed that they would choose nursing as their profession again if given the choice.

The United States Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that there will be a thirty percent increase in jobs for nurse practitioners from 2016 to 2026. Working in the medical field gives many people a grand sense of pride and a sense of accomplishment. Doctors and nurse practitioners alike enjoy their jobs and do their best to care for thir patients to the best of their ability. However, there are more upsides to becoming a nurse practitioner than a doctor. A Doctor of Nursing Practice degree cost vastly less than a medical degree. Nurse practitioners also spend much less time working toward a degree than doctors do. Nurse practitioner’s salaries, compared to those of doctors are much better compared to the payment per hour. In comparison, according to bestmedicaldegrees.com, a doctor’s lifetime income after their loan debt is around $4.7 million dollars. Their lifetime hours worked is 142,989. When this is adjusted, this comes out to $33.03 an hour. When you compare this salary to a high school teacher, doctors earn three cents less an hour. This is a very upsetting statistic that is greatly overlooked. Nurse practitioners, however, have a payment that is much better proportioned to their level o schooling. Being a nurse practitioner is a much better option due to payment, hours, school loans, and education required is much less harsh than that of a person who has went through the process of becoming a doctor.

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