Capital Press is an independent farm and ranch newspaper that serves California, Idaho, Oregon, Washington and other western states. This site contains links to other Internet sites. These links are not endorsements of any products or services in such sites, and no information in such site has been endorsed or approved by this site. Nurse practitioner, physician's asst. The hospital provides a valued community service, but is struggling financially.
Rural folks are very friendly.
Some rural areas lack resident physicians, but that doesn't mean there's no medical care available. Small country hospitals and health clinics are often staffed by a nurse practitioner or a certified physician's assistant. Both are medical professionals who work closely with full-fledged physicians to provide basic medical care. Educational requirements and what treatment they are allowed to provide vary from state to state, but basically a nurse practitioner is a nurse with a master's degree. A physician's assistant takes many of the same classes a physician does, but spends less time in school.