With the demand for great nurses at an all time high, you can choose your own future in one of many nurse practitioner specialties. Online programs for nurse practitioners, like LPN RN programs, focus their training on turning nurses into specialists in the care of people of all different ages and medical conditions. These specializations allow nurse practitioners to become one of the most valued members of many health care teams.

Different nurse practitioner programs train nurses for very different jobs depending on the patients the nurse wants to work with. Most nurse practitioner programs provide training options for several different fields, so it is important for the prospective nurse practitioner to select the appropriate school and training program. Types of nurse practitioner specialties span the entire spectrum of health care just as the different types of physicians do, so narrowing down your preferred patient population is extremely important. Some of the most popular nurse practitioner specialization include neonatology, family nurse practitioners and acute care nurse practitioners.

Neonatal nurse practitioners focus on newborns and premature babies. These nurse practitioners work almost exclusively in hospitals and focus on the baby and its care. As an important member of the healthcare team, neonatal nurse practitioners also help parents learn how to properly care for their newborn children. The health issues and diseases affecting children this young are very particular and the specialist in this area has to spend considerable time training and learning how to work with them.

Other nurse practitioner specialties include family nurse practitioners and acute care nurse practitioners. The family nurse practitioner focuses on children from birth through the teenage years although they generally do not work on the extremely young as the neonatal nurse practitioner does. These nurses focus on the diseases of childhood but also on helping parents and children develop and maintain healthy lifestyles.

The acute care nurse practitioner specializes on helping people during times of serious illness or disease. They often work in hospital emergency rooms and acute care settings like the intensive care unit. These nurses work closely with a team of doctors and nurses. Nurse practitioners like this fill an important role in hospitals where there is a need for nurses who can make split-second decisions about patient care without waiting to consult a doctor for direction. Being autonomous allows nurse practitioners in acute care settings to provide an extra level of intervention and skill.

Nurse practitioner specialties such as those who work in acute care settings, as well as family nurse practitioners and neonatal nurse practitioners, all form an important part of the integrated care team of doctors and nurses. The jobs that NPs perform create a seamless network of care for patients. With the skills of the NP and the ability to diagnose and treat a wide variety of disorders as well as prescribe treatment, the NP is an important extra level of care for the patient that might otherwise be missing without the nurse practitioner.