Q&A Concerning Nurse Practitioner Courses
For nurses interested in nurse practitioner courses
Nurses, have you considered professional development and nurse practitioner courses? We gathered some questions and answers on the studies, including about the prerequisites and fields of study.
A nurse practitioner course is a unique program, allowing senior nurses, with an academic education of a Master's degree and beyond and appropriate training, to specialize in a designated field, to obtain an additional authority in the field, and other fields.
Nurses who have taken nurse practitioner courses and obtained an appropriate certificate of registration receive an expanded authority in medical decision-making and are allowed to perform various procedures in accordance with their area of specialization.
Nurses who have successfully completed their nurse practitioner course are capable of giving advice, guidance, and counseling to patients and families; they can relieve pain by managing drug therapy; they can perform various treatments, balance chronic drug treatment, refer to medical examinations, and to medical counselors, etc.
The currently approved and active nurse practitioner areas in the State of Israel are as follows:
- Palliative care.
- Geriatric care.
- Diabetis.
- Neonatal care.
- Surgical care.
- Pain control.
- Nursing Administration and Policy.
Additional areas, which are undergoing development, are primary medicine and rehabilitation.
New areas of specialization are added occasionally, in accordance with the system's requirements and the policy of the Ministry of Health. The updated list of areas of specialization is available on the Nursing Division website.
The prerequisites for applying for nurse practitioner courses are:
- Applicants must have a recognized master's degree for payroll purposes.
- Applicants must be employed and practice a healthcare field for at least two years.
- Applicants must complete an post-basic course successfully in one of the healthcare fields relevant to the area of specialization.
It is recommended to read the specific requirements for each area of specialization on the Nursing Divison website.
Nurse practitioners have an expanded scope of treatment practice in making medical decisions and performing various procedures in accordance with their areas of specialization.
Among their scope of practice are examinations and assessment of the patient's condition, management of symptoms, management of medications, referrals to relevant care providers, counseling, etc. The Nursing Divison publishes a unique circular specifying the scope of practice of each field of specialization. Information about various fields of specialization can be found on the Nursing Divison website.
Training programs vary in accordance with the different areas of specialization. Most areas include a 750-hour program, of which 350 hours are theoretical hours in a two-day study per week format, and 400 hours of clinical studies in a three-day study per week format, but as mentioned earlier, each area of specialization should be examined separately.
After completing your academic duties in the selected area of specialization, you have to pass the nurse practitioner licensure exam. Then, you can register as a nurse practitioner in the Israel Nursing Licensure Registry (Hebrew).
The nurse practitioner licensure exam is comprised of two parts: a written test and an oral test. There is an interval of two weeks at least between the two tests, and you should pass the written test as a condition for participating in the oral test.
The written test includes 100 questions in a multiple-choice format out of the compulsory reading list in the syllabus. The oral test includes an analysis of at least two clinical cases in your relevant area of specialization.
A passing score is 70 in each of the stages.