alth care to women, including evaluation, assessment, treatment, and referral to specialists where necessary. They provide preconception counseling, care throughout pregnancy and childbirth, normal gynecological services and care of peri- and post-menopausal women.
The role of the Nurse Practitioner (NP) grew out of a need to increase patient access to primary care in places where a primary physician was not available (Sherwood, Brown, Fay and Wardell, 1997). The first NP program was developed at the University of Colorado in 1965 to prepare NPs to work in pediatrics (History, 2006; Sherwood, Brown, Fay and Wardell, 1997). NPs had advanced education from non-degree certificate programs and were able to identify symptoms and diagnose and manage health problems in pediatric patients.
The NP role was built on the role of the public health nurse to address a shortage of primary care in rural and underserved areas In the mid 1960s, with federal funding supporting the development of primary care providers, and in 1971, the Secretary of Health, Education and
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