Nurse Practitioners

The Family Heath Team employs six Nurse Practitioners who work in our Physicians' offices.  Nurse Practitioners can diagnose and treat illnesses, prescribe medications, and order diagnostic tests.

Our Nurse Practitioners are involved in many clinics in addition to their primary care work.  A Well Woman Clinic is run twice monthly out of our office.   Patients may be referred to see a Nurse Practitioner to discuss well woman issues, and have preventative screening done.   Our Nurse Practitioners also offer support to our Smoking Cessation Clinic, Heart Failure Clinic, and all other interdisciplinary health care providers when needed.

What is a Primary Health Care Practitioner?

Primary Health Care Nurse Practitioners (PHC NPs) are Registered Nurses (RNs), who are specialists in primary health care, who provide accessible, comprehensive and effective care to clients of all ages.  They are experienced RNs with additional nursing education which enables them to provide individuals, families, groups, and communities with health services in health promotion, disease, and injury prevention, cure, rehabilitation and support.  NPs are advanced practice nurses, functioning within the full scope of nursing practice and as such is not a second level physician nor a doctor's assistant.

Nurse Practitioner skills include the ability to:

Provide wellness care including health screening activities such as:

• Pap smears;
• Monitoring infant growth and development;
• Diagnosing and treating minor illnesses such as ear and bladder infections;
• Diagnosing and treating minor injuries such as sprains and lacerations;
• Screening for the presence of chronic disease, such as diabetes;
• Monitoring people with stable chronic disease, such as hypertension; and,
• Working collaboratively with Family Physicians and other members of the health care team.

For more information on Nurse Practitioners and their role in our community please visit http://www.npao.org/

To view a video on Nurse Practitioners and their role click here (http://www.npao.org/video.aspx)