Nurse Practitioners are responsible for prescribing medication and diagnosing patients for general health problems in the absence of a doctor. They are advanced and experienced nurses that may perform in all health care features including diagnosis ailments, consultations, and treatments. These professionals offer preventative care for elderly, children, and cancer patients by ordering laboratory tests, conducting check-ups, and recommending medication.

Nurse Practitioners usually perform many of the following tasks:
• Educating patients about preventive measures to avoid illnesses.
• Ordering diagnostic tests.
• Creating medical histories.
• Prescribing medications.
• Monitoring patient´s progress.

• Having collaboration skills.
• Being able to set priorities.
• Having good writing skills.
• Being able to work on multiple tasks at the same time.
• Having medical interpreting skills.
• Being able to listen to patient´s concerns.
• Having teamwork skills.
• Being highly precise.
• Having sound knowledge about basic medicine and procedures.
• Having high attention to details.

Persons who want to be Nurse Practitioners are required to have a Bachelor´s degree in Nursing from and accredited college or university. Applicants for this area then need to become Licensed Registered Nurses and work for two years in order to enroll in a Nurse Practitioner Program. These schemes last one or two years for completion. Professionals working in this sector must pass a certification offered by the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners and the American Nurses Credentialing Center. This qualification is called National Board of Certification and various states have their own certification and licensing programs. Other professional associations for this area are the National Certification Corporation, Oncology Nursing Certification Corporation, Pediatric Nursing Certification Association, among other institutions.