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What’s the Difference Between a Doctor and a Nurse Practitioner?


Christine S. Baker
May 12th, 2011

People hardly ever go to a medical doctor for regular physical check-ups anymore. They are far more expected to have a meeting with a Nurse Practitioner (NP) who works in the practice. A lot of people are not aware of what doctor and nurse practitioner in fact means. Continue reading to know the difference between a doctor and nurse practitioner.

Difference in On-job Responsibilities

One of the key differences between physicians and nurse practitioners is in the approach of giving care. The medical model of healthcare is inclined to focus on the diagnosis as well as cure of illness. The nursing model of healthcare, alternatively, includes the cure of the human response to illness as well as highlights the prevention of illness.

Doctors are educated from a medical practice model, which has a problem-centric sickness approach. Nurse practitioners are skilled health educators and work well where illness prevention as well as wellness can be stressed. Nonetheless, nurse practitioners as well usually work in acute care settings such as health centers as well as hospitals and take care of patients, working alongside with doctors.

Difference in Salary

Doctors are paid more in comparison with nurse practitioners and they usually have bigger legal duty, in a number of cases overseeing the work of nurse practitioners. In accordance with May 2008 Department of Labor statistics, the median yearly salary of registered nurse practitioner were $62,450 and the median annual salary for primary care doctors were $186,044. Nurse practitioners do not get paid as much as doctors, although they are within the higher level of nursing salaries.There is a broad range of expected salaries for nurse practitioners, relying on the location as well as area of expertise.

Differences in Accordance with Law

There are also legal differences with regards to what doctors and nurse practitioners can do with patients. Doctors can prescribe medicines, but nurse practitioners cannot do that in every State. Both doctors as well as nurse practitioners can work separately or as part of a healthcare group, so anyone could setup a workplace and start seeing patients, however,nurse practitioners are more restricted by state laws regarding what they can do for patients. Doctor’s licensure can be applied across state lines, which is not the case with nurse practitioners as they are required to acquire a separate authorization for every state where they practice.

With scores of Americans on the brink of overflowing the healthcare system, hospitals may not be capable to meet the expense of hiring additional doctors. With the rising number of patients, healthcare settings will have to look for inexpensive solutions, and this solution can be nurse practitioners.

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