When did the Nurse Practitioner role come into existence?
The Nurse Practitioner role evolved in response to a nationwide shortage of healthcare services in the mid-1960s. The first NP program was developed as a Master’s degree curriculum at the University of Colorado’s School of Nursing, co-founded jointly by a nursing faculty member and a pediatrician. The first program specialties were in pediatrics; other healthcare specialties were added shortly after as programs developed across the country to provide primary health care services to large underserved populations.
