In Australia, becoming a Nurse Practitioner requires a Bachelor of Nursing, a Graduate Diploma and a Master of Nurse Practitioner, the highest level of clinical nursing qualification in the country, built on many years of advanced clinical practice. A Nurse Practitioner can assess, diagnose, prescribe, request pathology and imaging, and make specialist referrals.
What makes the NP model different is the philosophy. Nursing is inherently holistic. Rachel does not see a condition to be managed. She sees a person whose life is being affected by clinical factors that deserve a thorough, unhurried and integrated response. You are an active participant in your own care. Every decision is made with you, not for you.