Nursing Vs Nurse Practitioner

A nurse practitioner, or NP, is a health care professional who has completed graduate-level education in a specialty area, such as pediatrics or gerontology, and has advanced clinical training in the management of illness. Nurse practitioners work primarily in primary care—primarily with patients of all ages. They can also be found in rural areas where doctors are scarce or where there are few specialists available to serve the population.

What Does a Nurse Practitioner Do?

As a nurse practitioner, you’ll be responsible for diagnosing and treating patients. You can perform medical procedures such as injections or minor surgeries under the supervision of a physician. Nurse practitioners are also able to prescribe medications and provide long-term care to patients.

Nurse practitioners work in many different settings including hospitals, clinics, private practice offices and nursing homes.

Certification and Training

The difference in certification and training can be confusing. RNs must complete a nursing program, while NPs have to complete a graduate degree in nursing (the master’s degree is the most common type of graduate level for NPs). In addition to completing a graduate level program, NPs must also pass a national certification exam.

To become an RN you must attend an accredited school for at least two years and pass your state’s licensing exam. To become an NP, you must attend an accredited school for at least four years (typically three or more) and pass your state’s licensing exam along with the National Certification Examination for Nurse Practitioners (NCLEX-PN).

Job Outlook and Salary

A nursing career is a rewarding and challenging one, but it doesn’t pay the best. Nurse practitioners, on the other hand, have higher earning potential because of their advanced education.

According to U.S. News & World Report, nurse practitioners can earn $100,000 per year or more as primary care providers in small practices. They also have options for work that pays well—for example, treating patients with chronic illnesses or handling high numbers of Medicaid patients at clinics or hospitals with low reimbursement rates.

With such lucrative prospects in mind and many NPs moving into this field from other professions (especially medicine), it’s no wonder that there’s a shortage of qualified applicants for NP positions across multiple specialties including pediatrics and family medicine—and this shortage is expected to continue through 2022 according to U.S Bureau of Labor Statistics data

Nursing Vs. Nurse Practitioner – Quick View

Nurse practitioners are more specialized than registered nurses. They have a master’s degree in nursing or another healthcare field and can perform tasks that RNs cannot, such as prescribing medication. Nurse practitioners may also provide primary care services to patients with non-emergent conditions, including chronic illnesses and long-term disabilities.

NP’s are highly trained professionals who work under the supervision of physicians—they are not considered full-fledged doctors themselves. As a result, they carry far more responsibility on their shoulders than their RN counterparts: they diagnose health problems and treat them independently; they prescribe medications; they manage patient files; and so much more!

A NP can perform more tasks than an RN.

As a nurse practitioner, you will be able to perform many of the same tasks as your physician counterparts. For example, you can perform physical exams, order tests and prescribe medications. NPs are also authorized to perform minor surgeries and suturing procedures when needed. In addition to the tasks performed by NPs, they can also provide patient education in areas such as smoking cessation or diabetes management through written materials or one-on-one sessions with patients.

Overall, it is important to know the differences between RNs and NPs. These professionals have different training and certifications and they also work in different settings. In most cases, an NP is a better choice if you are looking for someone who can perform more tasks than an RN. That being said, there are still some situations where an RN would be more appropriate than a NP like in rural areas where there aren’t many specialists available or if your primary care provider wants someone who can assist them with their patients needs without having any extra training then you should consider hiring an RN instead!