The theme for this year’s National Nurse Practitioner Week is “NPs Moving Forward: Today. Tomorrow. Together.” As we recognize Cooper’s nurse practitioners (NPs) this week, we also celebrate the 100th birthday of Dr. Loretta C. Ford, the co-founder of the first NP program – the pediatric nurse practitioner program at the University of Colorado in 1965 – and the first champion of the NP role.
We thank and recognize our NPs for their contributions to providing access to high quality, cost-effective, patient-centered care. Our NPs provide care in primary, acute, and specialty settings as well as in patient homes, and work collaboratively with all members of the health care team. NPs focus on health promotion, disease prevention, and health education and counseling to help patients make healthier lifestyle choices. In addition, NPs provide a full range of services, including diagnosing and treating acute and chronic conditions, prescribing medications and non-pharmacologic treatment and ordering, and interpreting diagnostic testing. The confidence patients have in their NP-provided care is demonstrated by more than one billion patient visits each year.
Thank you to all of our NPs!