Day in the Life of Nurse Practitioner (NP) Professionals
Advanced practice nurses such as NPs can choose to focus on specific populations or conditions. This section explores what to expect from various subfields of the discipline. Each piece details first-hand knowledge of the working environment, clinical and non-clinical teams, daily responsibilities, required skills and knowledge, and certifications within each specialization or subspecialization.
Day in the Life of an Aesthetic Nurse Practitioner (NP)
April 18, 2025 – Sophia Khawly, MSNAesthetic NPs work in outpatient settings such as medical spas or private practice clinics. They inject dermal fillers or Botox to improve the appearance of wrinkles and crow’s feet. They also perform laser therapy, such as tattoo removal and laser hair removal. Additionally, they provide skin treatments such as facials, microdermabrasion, and chemical peels.
An Expert’s Bona Fide Guide: Life as a Transplant Nurse Practitioner (NP)
March 24, 2025 – Matt ZbrogThe first successful kidney transplant was performed in 1954, signaling a new era in medical practice. Today, transplants of kidneys, lungs, hearts, livers, and pancreata are all considered routine procedures. Alongside the development of immunosuppressant drugs and an increasing number of donors, more and more patients can live longer, healthier lives.
An Expert’s Guide: Life as a Hospice & Palliative Care NP
February 7, 2025 – Matt ZbrogPalliative care is a medical specialty focused on improving the quality of life for patients facing serious illnesses and the side effects of their treatment; hospice care focuses on the palliation of terminally ill patients towards the end of their life. Both are of critical importance.
An Expert’s Bona Fide Guide: Life as a Forensic NP
December 19, 2024 – Matt ZbrogForensic nurse practitioners (NPs) combine the nursing, forensic, and legal sciences to bring safety, medical treatment, and justice to their patients. Within a specialized practice setting, they apply a core forensic nursing education that informs a holistic, patient-centered, trauma-aware approach to the traditional NP role.
Day in the Life of a Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner (NP)
November 14, 2024 – Matt ZbrogPsychiatric-mental health NPs are trained to provide a wide range of mental health services in various settings. They assess and diagnose patients, prescribe medications, and collaborate with other medical and non-medical professionals in providing care. Throughout, they apply the holistic approach that’s characteristic of all NPs and which is particularly valuable in psychiatry and mental health.
Day in the Life of a Women’s Health Nurse Practitioner (NP)
September 27, 2024 – Matt ZbrogWomen’s health is a specialty practice area that continues to grow and evolve. Advocacy and social justice are baked into its DNA. WHNPs take a truly holistic approach to care, considering the relationships between class, ethnicity, gender, and sexual orientation when treating their patients.
An Expert’s Guide: Life as a Pediatric NP
August 9, 2024 – Matt ZbrogPNPs and pediatric-focused advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs) offer low-cost, high-quality care to children from birth to the transition to adult care. Over the last six decades, they’ve become an essential component of the healthcare workforce, providing a wide spectrum of healthcare services in primary, hospital, outpatient, and specialty care settings.
Day in the Life of a Urologic Nurse Practitioner (NP)
April 23, 2024 – Matt ZbrogNurse practitioners (NPs) who specialize in urology focus on issues related to the upper and lower urinary tract system, which includes the kidneys, the ureters, the bladder, and the urethra. Urologic NPs may also treat conditions involving the reproductive system.
Day in the Life of a Surgical Nurse Practitioner (NP)
April 12, 2024 – Matt ZbrogSurgical NPs specialize in one or more aspects of surgical care. Often beginning their career with training as acute care nurse practitioners (ACNPs), their work environment typically exists within a hospital, but they can work anywhere there’s an operating room or clinic.
Day in the Life of a Pain Management Nurse Practitioner (NP)
December 28, 2023 – Matt ZbrogThe ways in which we understand, treat, and manage pain are continuing to evolve at a rapid pace, applying increasingly nuanced and individual approaches to what was once seen as a uniform symptom. Pain management NPs are at the forefront of that evolution, helping to pioneer the biopsychosocial model of pain management and push the field forward through research into multimodal methods of treating pain.