Introduction
Advanced Nurse Practitioners are trained specialist nurses who have undertaken additional education in order to provide advanced nursing care and prescribing.
Nurse Practitioners can provide treatment and advice for many problems for which you may have seen a doctor for in the past. Their main areas of expertise are in the management of common illnesses and long-term conditions.
The Nurse Practitioner can assess and examine you, make a diagnosis and provide advice and treatment including a prescription if required. They can make referrals to hospital doctors or other health care professionals and admit patients into hospital when necessary.
They work closely with your GP and liaise frequently with her or him about your care.
Same day appointments
- Wounds, scalds, burns, rashes
- Acute back pain, joint sprains
- Shingles
- Oral thrush
- Acute chest infection
- Dizziness, giddiness, unusual headache
- Conjunctivitis, sticky discharging eye, sty
- Diarrhoea, constipation, piles
- Vomiting
- Urinary tract infections, cystitis
- Vaginal thrush soreness, lump or discharge
- Tonsillitis, earache, cough, swollen glands, sinusitis, sore throat, colds and flu like illnesses, raised temperature that show no improvement after one week of pharmacists’ advice and home treatment.
Routine appointments
Nurse Practitioners also manage many long-term conditions such as asthma, eczema, high blood pressure, coronary heart disease, raised cholesterol levels, diabetes, epilepsy and respiratory disease. Patients with a long-term condition are either seen annually or at their medication review appointment. All patients who receive repeat prescriptions for any medicine need to see their GP or Nurse Practitioner either once or twice a year to have their prescription reviewed.
There are also many other problems that the Nurse Practitioners are able to help you with. For example, menstrual disorders, unexplained weight loss, breast lumps, sexual health advice, change of contraception pill or method, depression.
Some patients, often those with complex and long-standing medical problems, may need an appointment with a doctor. The Nurse Practitioner is usually able to assess the situation and, in some cases, will organize initial blood tests and other investigations prior to arranging a follow up appointment with your GP.