• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Neighborgoods

Get Outside and Enjoy Life

  • Home
  • About
  • Lifestyle
  • Health
  • Traveling
  • Finances
  • Activities
  • Community
  • Pets
  • Business
  • Blog
  • Contact

Different Types Of Nurse Practitioners And Their Role In Healthcare

January 15, 2021 by Carter Leave a Comment

 

Image Source

Nursing is a diverse career that has more opportunities than before. As time goes by, the numbers of aging and chronically ill patients continues to rise. Thus, there is a demand for trained professionals t provides quality healthcare services.

Nursing professionals play a vital role in the healthcare sector and remain an indispensable resource. The recent coronavirus outbreak is proof of this. They are essentially the frontline workforce for treating the patients and meeting their medical needs.

Nurse practitioners are advanced nursing professionals that cover various roles in clinical and non-traditional healthcare. These include treating the patients by creating care plans and recording data. With the challenges imposed by threats to human health and disease, the nurses’ demand is rapidly increasing. However, nursing practitioners are coming forward to fill these gaps by working in various areas related to delivering quality care.

If you are considering becoming a nurse practitioner, it is worth noting that the field branches off into several types. Each type relates to the different roles and focuses on specific groups of people, such as families, children, and elders. With that said, let’s discuss different types of nurse practitioners and their role in healthcare.

  • Family Nurse Practitioner

One of the most common types of practitioners in family care is FNPs. This group of professionals focuses on providing healthcare services to individuals and families. Their responsibilities are similar to those of the doctor or registered nurse. However, these professionals have more authority than registered nurses. Moreover, they train to offer a wide array of healthcare services, including health counseling, disease prevention, and promoting healthy lifestyles.

FNPs employ their unique set of skills to treat patients with a specific need. They acquire these skills via graduate-level education, like an online masters degree in nursing, which a prerequisite for entering a career. With this education, the family nurse practitioner can incorporate all the factors to assist the patients in physical and mental wellness.

  • Adult-Gerontology Nurse Practitioner

AGNPs focus on treating people from adolescence to adulthood and old-age. They are responsible for providing the diagnosing the disease while educating the people for improving healthcare. Not just that, but adult-gerontology practitioners also offer counseling, routine checkups, and immunization courses for people of all ages. These professionals can secure jobs in all healthcare facilities, including hospitals, local clinics, intensive care, rehabilitation centers, and nursing homes.

  • Acute Care Nurse Practitioner

Because physicians and RNs cannot treat every patient in a hospital, acute care nurse practitioners come in handy to fill the gap. ACNPs specializes in providing medical care to patients with acute, chronic, or critical health conditions. They are responsible for communicating with the physician to ensure proper medical services to the patients.

ACNPs are trained explicitly for making life-altering decisions. These professionals make sure that they are providing treatment according to strict medical policies and evidence-based practice. This ensures that the treatment is entirely safe for the patient and helps to stabilize their health.

  • Cardiac Nurse Practitioner

As the name implies, the cardiac nurse practitioner takes on a complex role of focusing on cardiovascular systems and heart health. These nurse professionals work in clinical and emergency environments, making them more flexible for jobs in the heart department. Moreover, these professionals deal with people of all ages. Their day-to-day responsibilities include taking a patient’s medical history, regular stress tests, and monitoring cardiovascular activity.

Technology has played a significant role in enhancing cardiovascular health. Likewise, the role of a CNP is continually evolving to keep up with technological advancements. Cardiac nurse practitioners can also practice independently to treat the patients and analyze heart disease. Moreover, the profession enables team collaboration, which significantly improves healthcare services across the spectrum.

  • Orthopedic Nurse Practitioner

Orthopedic nurse practitioners treat patients with musculoskeletal problems. These include joint pains, fractures, tendon ruptures, etc. The primary responsibilities of ONPs are to identify the patients suffering from these diseases and providing adequate medical treatment. These nurses also assist orthopedic surgeons by providing the data for patient treatment. They analyze data from tests, X-rays to evaluate the best possible treatment for the patients.

  • Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner

Mental health is a serious concern all over the globe. For this reason, nurse practitioners are opting to become PMHNPs to create more awareness about mental health and help people. These professionals provide quality care to patients with mental illness, including PTSD, anxiety, schizophrenia is to name a few. PMHNPs give counseling to patients to treat disorders.

  • Women’s Health Nurse Practitioner

WHNPs focus on issues related to women’s health from adolescence to drug rehabilitation and pregnancy. They provide counseling on birth control and family planning. WHNPs conduct research to address the rising issues women face in society.

However, it is worth noting that the role of a WHNP is broader and different as compared to the nurse-midwife. The nurse-midwife focuses on health issues related to pregnancy and childbirth. Meanwhile, WHNPs take a more holistic approach with far more career options in healthcare and social work.

Final Words

The scope of nurse practitioners is spread over several rewarding career paths. Each career path provides unique opportunities within specific niches to deliver quality patient care. Many of these jobs also offer a sizeable annual remuneration. If you are looking for a rewarding career with a promising outlook, then a nurse practitioner is the best choice to go for.

 

Filed Under: Health

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

About

Neighborgoods is all about living a healthy and community based lifestyle. Staying active and being outdoors is what life is all about :) It may not be for everyone, but I believe that the more time we spend with others being active outdoors, the happier we are.

Newsletter

Let’s Connect

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter

Facebook

Neighborgoods

Featured Posts

Everything You Need to Know About Guardianship for Special Needs Loved Ones

If you have a loved one with special needs, you probably already know how important it is to make sure they’re properly supported – not just today, but in the future as well. One of the most critical p … [Read More...] about Everything You Need to Know About Guardianship for Special Needs Loved Ones

Money Talks: Financial Planning & Legal Prep for Alabama Brides

Congratulations! If you’re reading this, chances are you’re preparing to walk down the aisle. A time filled with excitement, love, and a seemingly endless to-do list. Amid the dress fittings, venue tou … [Read More...] about Money Talks: Financial Planning & Legal Prep for Alabama Brides

Footer

About

Neighborgoods is all about living a healthy and community based lifestyle. Staying active and being outdoors is what life is all about :) It may not be for everyone, but I believe that the more time we spend with others being active outdoors, the happier we are.

Latest Post

  • Everything You Need to Know About Guardianship for Special Needs Loved Ones
  • Money Talks: Financial Planning & Legal Prep for Alabama Brides
  • Mastering Casino Game Bankroll Basics
  • How to Plan the Perfect Day Trip to See Dolphins in Jamaica at Dolphin Cove Ocho Ríos
  • Compliance, Consistency, and Clarity: Why AI is a Game-Changer for Proposal Development

Facebook

Neighborgoods

Copyright © 2025 · Magazine Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in