This week (8-14 November 2020) is National Nurse Practitioner Week. The first nurse practitioner was from New Mexico and was licensed in 1965. The concept was started in order to provide health care to people living in the rural areas of the state.

Since then, thousands of registered nurses around the country and the world have continued their education and become nurse practitioners. NPs have as many specialties as physicians do: Family Practice, Women's Health, Orthopedics, Emergency and Pediatrics are just a few of the fields where NPs work.

Over the decades, nurse practitioners have provided health care and health education to millions of patients. Each state has a different Practice Act. In New Mexico, NPs are independent providers; while the majority are employed by large clinics and hospitals, many have opened their own offices. NPs often practice where there are no physicians.

Studies show nurse practitioners provide high quality care and are cost effective, extremely important in these days of COVID.