National Nurse Practitioner Week honors profession Gov. John Hoeven has proclaimed Nov. 11-17, as Nurse Practitioner Week in the state of North Dakota in honor of the profession’s 41st anniversary. Nurse practitioners provide healthcare to people of all ages and in diverse healthcare settings, including private office practice, hospitals, long-term care facilities, schools, state and local health departments, managed care facilities, and retail-based clinics. The College of Nursing educates 30 to 35 nurse practitioner students each year, in various stages of their education. The nurse practitioner degrees that the College offers include the family nurse practitioner, psych/mental health nurse practitioner, and starting January 2008, gerontology nurse practitioner. The family nurse practitioner (FNP) degree has been a part of the College since 1994 and has graduated over 100 FNPs. Graduates of the program are well-qualified, having achieved a 100 percent pass rate on their licensing exam for the last seven consecutive years. The national average pass rate is in the 80th percentile. “The UND College of Nursing would like to congratulate all NPs during this week of celebration,” said Liz Tyree, FNP co-program director. “In the last four decades, each of you has continued a tradition of hard work and dedication – traits that have translated into quality patient care and ongoing professional development. We thank you and sincerely hope your success continues far into the future!” Alumni of UND are employed as nurse practitioners throughout North America from Arizona to Nova Scotia, but mostly in North Dakota and Minnesota. The program is particularly strong in helping students develop critical thinking and clinical decision-making through problem-based learning and clinical conference calls in which students and faculty analyze cases. There are more than 120,000 licensed nurse practitioners in the United States and more than 300 in North Dakota providing high-quality, cost-effective and personalized healthcare for citizens of our nation and state. Nurse practitioners are important partners in the healthcare of their patients, and in addition to clinical services, focus on health promotion, disease prevention and health education and counseling, working to help their patients make smarter health and lifestyle choices. -- Becky Cournia, Alumni Relations and Development, Nursing, beckycournia@mail.und.edu, 777-4526