MinuteClinic salutes nurse practitioners

MINNEAPOLIS CVS Caremark's MinuteClinic is saluting nurse practitioners nationwide in celebration of National Nurse Practitioner Week, Nov. 8 to 14.

MinuteClinic is one of the largest employers of nurse practitioners in the nation. The company's nurse practitioners and physician assistants serve patients at about 500 MinuteClinic locations in select CVS stores in 25 states.

"Our practitioners do a fantastic job with patient education which has allowed the MinuteClinic model to evolve beyond acute care to include wellness and prevention services," stated Andrew Sussman, M.D., president of MinuteClinic. "We will continue to call on their training and expertise to expand our offerings into disease management services for chronic conditions like diabetes, hypertension and hyperlipidemia."

Since MinuteClinic launched the nation's first retail clinics in 2000 its practitioners have provided care for more than five million patient visits.

"Nurse practitioners and physician assistants help Americans live better lives by achieving better health," stated Donna Haugland, RN, CNP, chief nursing officer of MinuteClinic. "We are proud to work with these professional organizations and academic institutions throughout the country to develop educational programs, training and research that helps grow the profession so even more Americans can experience the great care and treatment nurse practitioners and physician assistants provide."