, EIGHTH EDITION
Nurse Practitioner’s
BUSINESS
PRACTICE AND
LEGAL GUIDE
Carolyn Buppert, JD, MSN
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Buppert, Carolyn, author.
Title: Nurse practitioner’s business practice and legal guide / Carolyn
Buppert.
Description: Eighth edition. | Burlington, MA : Jones & Bartlett Learning,
[2023] | Includes bibliographical references and index. |
Identifiers: LCCN 2023025244 | ISBN 9781284286434 (paperback)
Subjects: MESH: Nurse Practitioners--legislation & jurisprudence | Nurse
Practitioners--standards | Practice Management--organization &
administration | Practice Patterns, Nurses’ | Risk Management--methods |
United States | BISAC: MEDICAL / Nursing / General
Classification: LCC RT86.73 | NLM WY 33 AA1 | DDC
610.7306/92--dc23/eng/20230912
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2023025244
6048
Printed in the United States of America
27 26 25 24 23 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
, Contents
Preface. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix
Chapter 1 What Is a Nurse Practitioner? 1
Definition of Nurse Practitioner. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
An NP, by Any Other Name . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Services Provided by NPs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Preparation and License Requirements. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Initials. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Areas of Practice. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Legal History of NPs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Demographics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
NPs in Primary Care . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
NP Versus Physician Assistant or Physician Associate:
What Is the Difference?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
NP Versus Physician: What Is the Difference?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
NP Versus RN: What Is the Difference? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
NP Versus Clinical Nurse Specialist: What Is the Difference?. . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Where Do Nurse Practitioners Practice?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
The NP Doctorate. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Use of the Title “Doctor”. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Appendix 1-A: State-by-State Definitions of Nurse Practitioner . . . . . . . . . 19
Appendix 1-B: State-by-State Titles for Nurse Practitioners. . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Chapter 2 Nurse Practitioner Scope of Practice 47
Professional Association Definition of Scope of Practice. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Statutory Versus Regulatory NP Scope of Practice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Physician Challenges to NP Scope of Practice. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Need for Clarity of Scope of Practice. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
— iii —