The evolving role of the nurse practitioner in neurosurgery

The authors examine the many important roles for the nurse practitioner in neurosurgery, including patient care in academic departments and private practice, and research and scholarship. The responsibilities of nurse practitioners in a hospital can be varied: they may take some responsibility for all patients on the neurosurgery service, or their assignment may be more specific, such as to the intensive care unit; or they may be assigned to all patients with a specified neurosurgical disorder, such as head injury of intractable pain. Nurse practitioners can become coordinators of clinical research programs, with responsibility for collecting and collating the data and assisting in data analysis and manuscript preparation. Detailed clinical protocols must be developed for nurse practitioners, and those protocols then become the basis for their employment and legal status. Licensure requirements vary greatly among states, and are continuing to change.