Nurse practitioners (NPs) are board certified registered nurses who have completed a master’s or doctoral degree program and have advanced clinical training beyond their initial professional registered nurse preparation. Didactic and clinical courses prepare nurses with specialized knowledge and clinical competency to practice in primary care, acute care and long-term health care settings and are certified to diagnose and treat illnesses. Research has shown that they provide care comparable in quality to that provided by Primary Care Physicians*. NP capabilities include health promotion, patient evaluation, treatment, diagnosis, education, counseling, case management, and coordination of care.

CCCs are usually staffed by NPs, who have proven through their 40-year history to provide high quality, patient centered, compassionate care. Sometimes CCCs are staffed by other types of advanced practice nurses. All CCC clinicians have advanced education in primary care, and providing quality health care for common episodic ailments including cold/flu, rashes/skin irritation, and muscle strains or sprains. CCC clinicians also provide immunizations, physicals, and preventive health screenings.

For more information about nurse practitioners, please visit:

• American Association of Nurse Practitioners

* Four sources: (1) The Health Lawyer, The Primary Care Paradigm Shift: An Overview of the State-Level Legal Framework Governing Nurse Practitioner Practice, Ritter & Hansen-Turton, April 4, 2008. (2) U.S. Congress, Office of Technology Assessment, Nurse Practitioners, Physician Assistants, and Certified Nurse-Midwives: A Policy Analysis 19 (1986), available at http://www.princeton.edu/~ota/disk2/1986/8615/8615/pdf. (3) Mary Mundinger et al., Primary care outcomes in patients treated by nurse practitioners or physicians, 283 JAMA 59 (2000). (4) E. Lenz et al., Primary care outcomes in patients treated by nurse practitioners or physicians: Two-year follow-up, 61 Med. Care Res. Rev. 332 (2004).