Nurse Practitioner Specialty Certifications and Education

Introduction

An adult nurse practitioner is far more specialized than a standard nurse (i.e., an LPN or an RN). Nurse practitioners are also called Advanced Practice Registered Nurses (APRNs) and have completed nursing education at a graduate level (International Council of Nurses, 2012). They hold either a Master's or Doctoral degree in their field and often treat both physical and mental health issues. Diseases can be diagnosed by NPs, and they can also prescribe some medications, take extensive medical histories, and order diagnostic tests. Adult nurse practitioners must meet the education and licensing requirements of registered nurses, and they must also have the clinical experience required to qualify for the RN title (International Council of Nurses, 2012). From that point, they move on to the graduate-level work of a nurse practitioner program. They may pursue either a Master's or a Doctoral degree, and either can qualify them for the NP designation. They then take the national board certification examination in their chosen specialty area, such as adult care (Flanagan, 1997).

If a nurse was trained only at the diploma level or only at the associate degree level, a Bachelor of Science in Nursing is first necessary — or there are bridge programs in which the nurse can work toward a bachelor's degree while simultaneously pursuing a Master's or Doctoral degree (Horrocks, Anderson, & Salisbury, 2002). Those programs work well for nurses who do not already hold a bachelor's degree, but they are not offered everywhere. Schools also vary considerably in what they offer nurses at any level and in what they require for licensing and certification.

Education and Training

With that in mind, several universities in Alabama and Florida have nursing schools, as do a number of other institutions throughout the region. Some community colleges in both states also offer nursing programs; however, a student cannot reach a high enough level of education at a community college to earn an NP designation. These smaller colleges are designed for associate degrees and diplomas, not for bachelor's degrees and beyond.

The main issue with licensing is that the pathway to an NP designation is very similar regardless of which specialty a person chooses. The educational requirements are the same, the required experience levels are the same, and the licensing requirements are also the same. The only difference is that the licensing examination questions for a given specialty will be particular to that specialty. With that in mind, it would not make sense to repeat the same information for each specialty, since it is consistent from educational and experience standpoints.

Licensing and Planning

However, there are two areas where things differ: the role and its importance in the healthcare environment, and which southern universities offer which specialties. Both of those areas can be explored as they relate to each specialty. The Adult Nurse Practitioner designation has already been somewhat addressed. This specialty is highly significant, but it is also among the most generalized in that it largely encompasses everyone who is not a child.

Conclusion

Because nurse practitioners function so similarly to physicians in many respects, it stands to reason that they would be held to a high educational standard. This protects both the practitioners and their patients. Research comparing patient outcomes between those treated by physicians and those treated by nurse practitioners has found that the vast majority of NPs can deliver patient care just as effectively as — and in some cases better than — physicians who specialize in the same field (Mundinger, 2000; Horrocks, Anderson, & Salisbury, 2002). This is an important consideration both for individuals entering the nursing profession and for patients seeking high-quality, affordable medical care.

Flanagan, L. (1997). Nurse practitioners: Growing competition for family physicians? Family Practice Management.

Horrocks, S., Anderson, E., & Salisbury, C. (2002). Systematic review of whether nurse practitioners working in primary care can provide equivalent care to doctors. British Medical Journal, 324, 819–823.

International Council of Nurses. (2012). Nurse practitioner/advanced practice nurse: Definition and characteristics. Nursing Matters Fact Sheets.

Lenz, E. R., Mundinger, M. O., Kane, R. L., Hopkins, S. C., & Lin, S. X. (2004). Primary care outcomes in patients treated by nurse practitioners or physicians: Two-year follow-up. Medical Care Research Review, 61, 332–351.

Mundinger, M. O., Kane, R. L., Lenz, E. R., Totten, A. M., Tsai, W.-Y., Cleary, P. D., et al. (2000). Primary care outcomes in patients treated by nurse practitioners or physicians: A randomized trial. Journal of the American Medical Association, 283(1), 59–68.