Family Nurse Practitioner vs Pediatric Nurse Practitioner

The definition of a Nurse Practitioner is: a Registered Nurse who has advanced his or her education to the point where he or she has a Master’s in Nursing and additional certification and training that allows them to do many of the duties a physician can and often works in place of a physician in clinical settings.

Therefore, a Pediatric Nurse Practitioner is someone who is certified beyond their Master’s degree to work in a pediatrics office with children on a daily basis. When a regular pediatrician has a caseload that is bigger than that pediatrician can handle and his or her schedule is booked solid, a majority of their infant and children patients can be seen by the NP. A lot of people tend to think that the NP is a doctor because they are able to prescribe medication and order specific medical exams, but again, their title gives it away. They are Advanced Nurse Practitioners. They may even consult with the pediatricians on the care of their little patients or be supervised by the pediatricians in some states.

A Family Nurse Practitioner has earned the title and certification to treat members of the entire family, not just the children. The scope of their skills is broader, serving infants to the elderly, women and men. They are able to order more diagnostic tests and prescribe a larger list of medications than a Pediatric Nurse Practitioner. It doesn’t stop there; from gynecological exams to prostate exams and even sports physicals and annual wellness checkups, the Family NP does a lot more for entire families and multiple generations within the same family than the Pediatric NP does.

Essentially then, their educational paths are the same. They will start out by first earning their bachelor’s degree in nursing and working as Registered Nurses. From there, they return to school to earn a Master’s and possibly even a doctorate in nursing. To finally reach the point where they are titled Family or Pediatric NP or Advanced NP, they have to take additional training and testing and pay for the licensing for each specific career path. Some NP’s, if they choose, may opt to become more than one class of NP. Family NP’s also, on average, earn more per year than Pediatric NPs because of their broader knowledge base and skills with working with patients of all ages.

Both are able to work in hospitals, public clinics, private clinics, and even open their own clinics working for themselves to serve the public. The last option is especially advantageous because an NP with his or her own clinic can see hundreds of patients in a year and not have to depend on a company or medical corporation for their paycheck. They might have to hire additional help for reception and billing so as to focus more on their patients, but a lot of NP’s report it’s worth it and a lot of patients like being able to see the same medical professional consistently. The laws in each state governing what an NP can and can’t do are located at the individual state’s board of nursing website.

Also find out, “Family Nurse Practitioner vs Adult Nurse Practitioner“.

Family Nurse Practitioner vs Adult Nurse Practitioner

There can be some confusion about the specifics of what certain jobs entail within the medical industry. Whether you’re looking to hire a nurse for the home or you’re looking to begin your education to become a medical professional, you should take the time to learn the major differences between a family nurse practitioner and an adult nurse practitioner.

Below we’ll list brief definitions of what a nurse is expected to do, what a family nurse does, and what an adult nurse does. The duties performed by an adult nurse and a family nurse overlap in a lot of ways but are near polar opposites in others. Read on and we’ll help you to avoid any possible confusion in the future with regards to what exactly you should expect of your nurse or your future career in the medical industry.

Basic Nursing Duties

To list all of a nurse’s duties would take volumes, but it’s safe to say that they are the backbone of the entire medical industry. Where doctors are expected to have very specific knowledge regarding child healthcare or the ears, nose and throat, or disease and illness, a nurse needs to have an intermediate knowledge of literally everything. Where doctors may need to carry a pager for emergencies, a nurse typically handles a half dozen or more emergencies every single day.

A nurse needs to be able to manage clerical duties as well as providing a humane and sympathetic touch in dealing with patients. They need to know how to administer a shot while cleaning the equipment and disposing of hazardous materials. Nurses are, without a doubt, the hardest working and most versatile people in the medical community.

Family Nurse Practitioners

Family nurse practitioners, or FNPs, are a special type of nurses that specialize in the bigger picture of health. It’s not just the family, though that’s a part of it. A family nurse practitioner needs to understand a person’s social and cultural background, they need to know what the patient’s religion has to say on blood transfusions and what people of their culture tend to eat. They need to know about the person’s financial and socio-economic background. A family nurse practitioner doesn’t simply worry about a family, they have to be concerned with everything that defines the context of their patient’s life and health, everything from whether their family has a history of heart disease to whether or not they’re drinking clean water at home.

An average salary of FNP is between $75,000 to $97,000 depends upon experience and area.

Adult Nurse Practitioners

An Adult Nurse Practitioner(APN) is the one that most of us will be talking to primarily throughout our adult lives. From adolescence to old age, an Adult Nurse Practitioner is there to help everyone who is not already being helped by another specialized be they a pediatric nurse or a geriatric nurse. If you are an adult and you’re not being covered by a special need, chances are that you’re going to be primarily talking to adult nurse practitioners.

The duties that both perform are largely the same, but the direction that they come at the job is a bit different. Where a family nurse will know more about the bigger picture, an adult nurse practitioner needs to be just as involved on an individual level.

An average salary of APN is between $80,000 to $120,000 depends upon experience and area.

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