Nurse Practitioner Week 12-18 December 2022

Nurse Practitioners: the essential difference in health care

In 2022, Nurse Practitioners (NPs) in Australia celebrate Nurse Practitioner Week from the 12-18 December 2022. The theme in 2022 is "Nurse Practitioners, the essential difference in healthcare."

Nurse Practitioners are proud of their nursing background, and carry with them the nursing philosophy of kindness, care, empathy, and the desire to help others. This philosophy also underpins NP practice and contributes to positive outcomes for NPs, their patients and communities.

Nurse Practitioners have differences that make them essential to healthcare, and a real asset to the future of their patients and health care in this country.

Essential differences in healthcare with a Nurse Practitioner:

Improving health outcomes for patients and the community
Practice in all areas and sectors of health care
Providing much-needed health care services in areas and populations deemed vulnerable
Work in metropolitan, regional, rural and remote settings
Patient focused and person centred health care
NPs can diagnose and treat a variety of health related conditions
NPs can prescribe medications
NPs can order and interpret pathology and radiology tests
Initiate and receive referrals from health professionals
Strong communication and links with multidisciplinary teams
Case management and care co-ordination
Can work autonomously and independently
Can provide extensive health education relevant to each person
Can have their own private practices
Can admit and treat patients in hospitals

During NP Week 2022, the ACNP wants to celebrate and educate Australian communities on what makes a Nurse Practitioner different, and why this is essential to the future of healthcare in Australia.