Q&A: What's The Difference Between A Doctor And A Nurse Practitioner?

Michelle Andrews answers a reader question about the differences in practice and qualifications between doctors and nurse practitioners. She discusses the movement to require nurse practitioners to have a clinical doctoral degree although the 2015 timeframe she describes is a goal, rather than a requirement.

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<h1>Q&A: What’s The Difference Between A Doctor And A Nurse Practitioner?</h1>
<div>		<time class="posted-on" datetime="2012-09-14T05:00:00-04:00">
			September 14, 2012		</time>
		</div>
<p>Michelle Andrews answers a reader question about the differences in practice and qualifications between doctors and nurse practitioners. She discusses the movement to require nurse practitioners to have a <a href="http://www.aacn.nche.edu/media-relations/fact-sheets/dnp">clinical doctoral degree</a> although the 2015 timeframe she describes is a goal, rather than a requirement.</p><ul><li><a href="https://kffhealthnews.org/news/andrews-q-and-a-nurse-practitioners/?share=x">				Click to share on X (Opens in new window)				X			</a></li><li><a href="https://kffhealthnews.org/news/andrews-q-and-a-nurse-practitioners/?share=facebook">				Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)				Facebook			</a></li><li><a href="https://kffhealthnews.org/news/andrews-q-and-a-nurse-practitioners/?share=linkedin">				Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)				LinkedIn			</a></li><li><a href="mailto:?subject=%5BShared%20Post%5D%20Q%26A%3A%20What%27s%20The%20Difference%20Between%20A%20Doctor%20And%20A%20Nurse%20Practitioner%3F&body=https%3A%2F%2Fkffhealthnews.org%2Fnews%2Fandrews-q-and-a-nurse-practitioners%2F&share=email">				Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)				Email			</a></li><li><a href="https://kffhealthnews.org/news/andrews-q-and-a-nurse-practitioners/#print?share=print">				Click to print (Opens in new window)				Print			</a></li><li>				<a href="https://kffhealthnews.org/news/andrews-q-and-a-nurse-practitioners/view/republish/">					Republish This Story				</a>			</li></ul><em><a href="https://kffhealthnews.org/about-us">KFF Health News</a> is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF—an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about <a href="https://www.kff.org/about-us">KFF</a>.</em><p><a href="https://kffhealthnews.org/morning-briefing/">Subscribe</a> to KFF Health News' free Morning Briefing.</p><p>This <a target="_blank" href="https://kffhealthnews.org/news/andrews-q-and-a-nurse-practitioners/">article</a> first appeared on <a target="_blank" href="https://kffhealthnews.org">KFF Health News</a> and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.<img src="https://kffhealthnews.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/kffhealthnews-icon.png?w=150" style="width:1em;height:1em;margin-left:10px;"><img id="republication-tracker-tool-source" src="https://kffhealthnews.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=10734&amp;ga4=G-J74WWTKFM0" style="width:1px;height:1px;"></p>

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