Are you a nurse practitioner (NP) looking for an exciting new job? What about a post in a chiropractic office?
Don’t disregard that option. In many states, a chiropractor can hire a nurse practitioner to work in his/her office. It presents a remarkable opportunity for an NP. Not only is it a solid-paying job, but you often get to learn about more holistic types of medical treatment and alternative therapies.
Chiropractors, Nurse Practitioners, and the Path Ahead
Once upon a time, in the dim dark past, some medical professionals were a little biased against chiropractors. But that attitude has been changing for several decades now, as this study on adding chiropractors to traditional medical offices shows.
Of course, that study discusses chiropractors being hired by traditional medical offices. But the reverse, also, is often true. Many chiropractors find it highly desirable to bring traditional medical personnel like a nurse practitioner or other type of medical practitioner into their office.
More and more medical personnel are discovering the advantages of holistic medicine and bringing that knowledge into their own practices. In fact, a study by the Wiley Online Library found that 83% of the nurse practitioners they surveyed often recommended a variety of alternative treatments for their patients. Such treatments, most often, included chiropractic care, massage therapy, acupressure, and acupuncture as well.
What States Allow Chiropractors To Hire Nurse Practitioners?
The good ol’ U.S. Constitution divides the U.S.A. into a multiplicity of different states. As a result, every state has its own laws governing the medical practices in each locale. In some states, chiropractors may not be allowed to hire nurse practitioners. In others, there is no real difficulty.
Basically, there is a 3-tiered system of collaborative regulations imposed by each state on nurse practitioners. At the top tier are those states which allow the nurse practitioner the most freedom. They can diagnose illness, prescribe medications, and recommend treatments as they see fit.
Each tier below this increases the respective regulations. Perhaps, the NP won’t be able to prescribe controlled substances, for example. Or, further still, the NP may not be allowed to diagnose a condition.
Broadly defined, these three tiers fall into the following categories:
- Full Practice:
- Reduced Practice
- Restricted Practice
Each tier denotes the amount of oversight provided by a medical physician. And not just any medical physician, an actual M. D.
Naturally, of course, the first tier, Full Practice, is the tier that allows the most flexibility and independence for the nurse practitioner in question. And it is this tier that we are most concerned with in this post because despite the prefix of “Dr.” a chiropractor does not fully qualify as an M.D.
So, if an NP requires oversight by an M.D (which tiers 2 and 3 do)., that is something the chiropractor can’t provide. So, he/she won’t be able to hire the NP. At least, not in that state.
The states that are “Full Practice” states and, therefore, allow chiropractors to hire NPs (as of 2021) are Washington D.C., Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Guam, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Northern Mariana Islands, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Washing, Wyoming.
Is a Chiropractic Office a Good Place To Work for a Nurse Practitioner?
Of course, before you contemplate switching jobs or making such a change, you should evaluate its pros and cons. This includes the standard new job questions you might ask:
- Will you have to move to a new location?
- Is the new location acceptable?
- Will the pay be proper?
- Does the new job fit into your projected career path?
And so on.
However, there are other considerations you must take into account. In the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, for example, one must sincerely ask yourself if you are making a choice you are confident you want to make, or are you reacting to the unusual levels of stress the pandemic has inflicted upon many people in your profession?
Burnout, stress, and fatigue are not uncommon in the medical profession. The 2+ year pandemic makes that even more true and relevant. You don’t want to go through the hassle of getting a new job only to find out that the new job is a stress magnifier you would be better off avoiding at this juncture.
So, before applying for any new job, make sure you spend sufficient time in self-reflection to know exactly where you stand and where you want to go. And make sure this next step dovetails with that analysis.
Once you do that, it’s time to break out and update the good ol’ resume. If writing isn’t your forte – no worries. There are plenty of services that can assist. Here are a few tips specifically designed to help nurses with writing their resumes.
With self-analysis complete and resume in hand (or in the Cloud), you are ready to go.
What Advantages Does a Nurse Practitioner Bring to a Chiropractic Office?
Naturally, of course, if you want to pursue a job in a chiropractic office as a nurse practitioner, you need to get a firm handle on what you bring to the table. In one way, there is a sort of camaraderie between chiropractors and nurse practitioners in the sense that neither one is considered an M.D., yet both have substantial medical training.
The question really revolves around specializations. Chiropractors are specialists in the musculoskeletal system. Nurse Practitioners also have their own areas of expertise. Understanding how such complements a particular chiropractor’s practice is essential to applying there.
So, what does a nurse practitioner bring to the chiropractor’s table?
Prescribing Meds
As of 2021, the only state in the Union that allows chiropractors to prescribe any kind of medication was the state of New Mexico, which may change in time, but for now, that’s the way it is.
In comparison, nurse practitioners are allowed to prescribe in a much wider swath of states. A chiropractor’s office that takes on a nurse practitioner will then, most likely, be expanding its offered services to include prescribing (for pain meds, mostly).
Expanding Medical Treatment Options
Also on the table are whatever other specialties the NP has at his/her disposal. This can consist of such things as advanced therapies like Regen Therapy (human tissue transplants, etc…) and any other such techniques that might be out of a chiropractor’s purview.
Of course, that is not a complete list of all that a nurse practitioner brings to a chiropractor’s office. More specific details will vary from office to office and from NP to NP. To See what nurse practitioners do in our Juneau chiropractor’s office, click here.
Conclusion
So, in the end, the short answer to the original question is a qualified “Yes, a chiropractor can hire a nurse practitioner.” And if you are contemplating a career as a nurse practitioner and your interests cover the functioning of joints, bones, ligaments, and tendons, a chiropractic office may be just the move for you.
Our job board is a great place to search for your next travel nurse assignment. We have you covered with our housing page if housing is an issue. You can search for what you are looking for.
Sources:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1550830707004120
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1046/j.1365-2648.2002.02238.xhttps://nursejournal.org/nurse-practitioner/np-practice-authority-by-state/
