November 12th-18th is National Nurse Practitioner Week! Nurse Practitioners (NPs) are leading the charge in providing high-quality, cost-effective care and helping to address our country’s mounting access to healthcare issues. With over one billion patient visits yearly, NPs go the extra mile to deliver primary, acute, specialty, and long-term care in various settings.
The NP role grew out of a need to meet the healthcare demands of underserved populations, such as rural areas. Loretta Ford and Henry Silver worked together to create the nation’s first nurse practitioner (NP) program at the University of Colorado in 1965.
Here are a few facts about Nurse Practitioners:
- NPs are highly skilled professionals, with 88.0% certified in primary care and 70.3% delivering primary care.
- In 2021, NPs had a median base salary of $113,000.
- The majority of full-time NPs (56.9%) see three or more patients per hour.
- According to the latest statistics, the average age of NPs is 46 years.
- Over 45% of full-time Nurse Practitioners hold hospital privileges, and 10.9% have long-term care privileges.
- NPs hold prescriptive privileges, including controlled substances, in 50 states and D.C.
- Over 36,000 new NPs completed their academic programs in 2020-2021.
The expertise of Nurse Practitioners combines clinical precision with a drive for disease prevention and health management, creating an invaluable holistic approach to health care. Wapiti celebrates the amazing contributions of these dedicated men and women during National Nurse Practitioner Week.
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