A Profile of Nurse Practitioners in Emergency Care Settings

Purpose To determine characteristics of nurse practitioners (NPs) who provide emergency care. Data Sources Descriptive cross‐sectional study of a convenience sample of 113 NPs in emergency care obtained from the online Resource Directory of Nurse Practitioners in Emergency Care. Conclusions The majority of NPs in emergency care worked in facilities that were located in urban/suburban areas, were responsible for providing care in both the main emergency department and fast track area, held a Master of Science degree in nursing, obtained their education as a family nurse practitioner, and were certified as an NP by a national certifying agency. They were experienced registered nurses before becoming an NP but were relatively new to the NP role. Implications The results of this study provide information about characteristics of NPs who provide emergency care.