Nurse practitioners (NPs) are registered nurses who have additional education and nursing experience, which enables them to:
Autonomously diagnose and treat illnesses | Order and interpret tests | Prescribe medications | Perform medical procedures
NPs are health-care professionals who treat the whole person, an approach that includes:
Addressing needs relating to a person’s physical and mental health | Gathering medical history | Focusing on how an illness affects a person’s life and family | Offering ways for a person to lead a healthy life | Teaching persons how to manage chronic illness | NPs are also educators and researchers who can be consulted by other health-care team members.
In general, a typical Nurse Practitioner Program requires, at the minimum, an individual to be a Registered Nurse, which is typically is a 4 year Bachelors Degree in Nursing, and 2 years or 2000 hours of working experience. The actual Nurse Practitioner program itself is a Masters Degree Program, and takes about 2 years of rigorous education and clinical training to complete. In total, at the minimum of 8 years is required to become a Nurse Practitioner (this can vary in other provinces and countries).
A Nurse Practitioner is NOT a doctor. In fact, it is important to address a Nurse Practitioner as an "NP". Although the roles of doctors and NPs can have similarities, it is important to distinguish that NPs are equal providers of healthcare. In Canada and other countries, NPs work ALONGSIDE doctors and other medical providers to provide high quality healthcare.
Here are some key similarities and differences between, NPs and doctors
*the above comparison is intended to compare/contrast the similarities in the roles. This list is not exhaustive, and mainly applies to primary care specialities - Roles will differ in certain specialities.
Read this recent article posted on MDMag a popular US site for doctors and primary care providers - Can Nurse Practitioners Fill the Void in Primary Care
Our services are not covered by the Manitoba Provincial Health Program because:
HomeHealth NP offers a unique service that includes accessing us through a variety of ways: home visits, clinic visits and virtual visits. This all-in-one solution is not offered by family providers, nor would these services be a covered service.
Nurse Practitioners do not fall within the Canada Health Act, which means the services we render cannot be billed to the Manitoba Public Health System. This is similar to other providers such as dentists, physiotherapists, chiropractors, etc. Patients will typically have to pay out of pocket to access these services. However, various Insurance Providers will cover Nurse Practitioner services, check with your insurance provider.