“We really are the foundation of health care right now,” says Diane Desmarais, APRN, a nurse practitioner at CMC’s Vein & Vascular Specialists and president of the New Hampshire Nurse Practitioner Association. Despite playing a critical role in health care, few people understand what a nurse practitioner (NP) is and how much training and scope of practice they have. “A nurse practitioner is a master’s prepared nurse who is trained in the advanced physical assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of patients,” she explains. NPs are generally trained as family nurse practitioners, providing primary care to patients at any age, but many also seek other tracts such as psychiatric NP or add additional training in a specialty. “I have practiced as a family nurse practitioner,” says Desmarais, “but I have a lot of surgical background in my nursing history and have gravitated toward vascular as a specialty.” NPs have advanced training to recognize the disease process, order the labs and imaging necessary to make a diagnosis, and prescribe treatment. “We can treat full circle, but we’re also trained to recognize when patients care needs are outside our scope of practice and we refer to a surgeon or specialist. In other words, NPs are the perfect component of a true health care team. “Our patient satisfaction is tremendous. We listen to our patients; we spend time with our patients. I’d rather hear you say my clinical skills are phenomenal, but nursing is naturally big on personal skills and it’s nice when the two meet. I really want people to love the care I give them.” Learn about NP and other career opportunities at CMC!