Nurse Practitioners are an important and ever-growing part of healthcare in the U.S. and in other parts of the world. The professional titles and designations, however, can be quite confusing to nurses and the public alike. Herewith, let the dissection of NP titles begin!

1. Nurse Practitioners,
What the Heck is
With all those
Initials After Your
Name???

2. The following are the
LinkedIn names of actual
Nurse Practitioners:

3. Judy Martin-Holland, PhD, MPA, RN, CNS, FNP
Shelley Bloom DNP, MSN, FNP-C
Rebecca Carroll, NP, MSN, AGACNP-BC
Dr. Evelyn Okunoghae, APRN, FNP-C, DNP

4. Whaaaa?
Huh???

5. What do all those initials after
their names even
MEAN???

6. (Seriously, even nurses can be
confused by all those letters!)

7. PNP-C APN PMHNP-BC ENP DNP GNP
ACNP-BC
DM MPH
PHD CDE
MSN CNS
ANP CEN
CRNA ANP
CNM NP
WHNP RD
CCRN EDD
HIV/AIDS
MPA MBA
AGACNP
APRN FNP
ACPNP JD
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ

8. Let's go over it and make it as
straightforward as possible.

9. With every degree and specialty
certification (and nurses tend to
be lifelong learners so there can
be a lot of these), nurses acquire
new initials, which represent new
qualifications, new expertise, and
new titles.

10. Although it may not look like it,
nurses, including nurse
practitioners (or NPs), do follow a
general pattern when writing
their titles and professional
designations.

11. First, remember that the highest
degree a nurse can achieve is a
doctorate and the two main
nursing doctorates are PhD and
DNP.

12. PhD = Doctor of Philosophy
DNP = Doctor of Nursing Practice

13. (And the Master's Degree - which
most NPs must have - is almost
always an MSN.)

14. MSN = Master of Science in Nursing

15. This isn't always the case, but it's a
good rule of thumb.

16. Most NPs place their highest degree
immediately after their names.
Lesser degrees may come after
that:

17. Judy Martin-Holland, PhD, MPA, RN, CNS, FNP
Shelley Bloom, DNP, MSN, FNP-C
(Doctor of Philosophy)
(Master of Public Administration)
(Doctor of Nursing Practice)
(Master of Science in Nursing)

18. However, instead of their highest
degrees, some NPs lead with their
professional designations:

19. Rebecca Carroll, NP, MSN, AGACNP-BC
Dr. Evelyn Okunoghae, APRN, FNP-C, DNP
(Advanced Practice Registered Nurse. NPs
are one type of APRN. There are 3 others
but we can talk about that another time.
Let's concentrate on NPs here.)

20. And, if that's not confusing
enough, what about all the rest of
those letters? What do they mean?

21. DON'T EVEN WORRY
ABOUT THOSE!!!
(That's a lesson
for another day!)

22. For now, just look for the "NP"
among all the other letters.

23. In just about every case, regardless
of the other letters surrounding it,
"NP" will mean you're dealing
with a Nurse Practitioner.

24. So, you better watch out!

25. See if you can spot the "NP"s
in the following slide.
(Remember, don't count the "DNP"
as it's a doctoral degree and doesn't
signify "nurse practitioner".)

26. Judy Martin-Holland, PhD, MPA, RN, CNS, FNP
Shelley Bloom DNP, MSN, FNP-C
Rebecca Carroll, NP, MSN, AGACNP-BC
Dr. Evelyn Okunoghae, APRN, FNP-C, DNP

27. Judy Martin-Holland, PhD, MPA, RN, CNS, FNP
Shelley Bloom DNP, MSN, FNP-C
Rebecca Carroll, NP, MSN, AGACNP-BC
Dr. Evelyn Okunoghae, APRN, FNP-C, DNP

28. Get it???

29. Got it!!!

30. Good!!!
www.whatisannp.com