Nurse practitioners offer a comprehensive perspective on health care because they can perform a full range of primary, acute and specialty health care services, including diagnosing and treating acute and chronic conditions, ordering, performing and interpreting X-rays and lab work, writing prescriptions, managing patient care, and much more.
National Nurse Practitioner Week is held each year to celebrate these talented health care providers. We’re proud of our own NPs and grateful for their specialized work. In their own words, why two OrthoCarolina nurse practitioners chose their career path:
I decided to become a nurse practitioner when I was still in nursing school. I loved the role that NPs played with more active decision making on the health care team, helping create a health care plan for the patient. I thought the collaboration between the physicians and NPs was amazing and really saw how the patient was able to benefit from the "nursing" that NPs could offer while providing medical care. Patients got the best of both roles!!
I started my NP career in primary care pediatrics. I actually referred my patients to this practice for their orthopedic needs, so saw what an amazing practice this was. I always loved sports medicine, actually volunteering as an athletic trainer in college. So when I was ready to advance my career and sub-specialize my pediatric practice, orthopedics seemed like a natural fit.
The best part of my NP career is taking care of patients. I love pediatrics and have spent 23 years working in pediatric medicine. Seeing children in compromising medical situations and helping guide them and their families through it is an amazing and gratifying thing.
Outside of the office, I enjoy tennis, running, barre classes, volunteering and being a mom to 3 amazing kids.
The future is bright for nurse practitioners. The future of healthcare and the changes that are happening will open the door wide for non-physician health care providers. The number of nurse practitioners needed to fill valuable roles in the health care system is increasing rapidly and would be a fantastic career to consider. I sure love it!
OrthoCarolina Pediatric Center
The role of the nurse practitioner is rooted in the foundation of nursing. As nurses, our job is to see our patients as a whole and treat them as individuals with the respect and dignity that they deserve so that they may achieve physical, emotional, psychological, and spiritual health and well-being. Health is a holistic term that has a different meaning to each unique individual.
Not only are advanced practice nurses in the forefront of patient care, but they are also advocates and leaders in the profession of nursing. With advanced practice nursing comes the duty to advance our profession through research, mentoring of future nurses, and being active participants in professional organizations.
Accepting the role of the nurse practitioner is an awesome responsibility of which I am excited to undertake. I will continue my quest for knowledge in order to better serve not only my patients but also to better myself in order that I may actively advocate for the continued advancement of our profession.
Kathryn Jones,AGNP-C
OrthoCarolina Hickory
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April 06, 2017