May 6-12 is Nurses Week in 2025. It’s a time to celebrate, reflect, and recognize the incredible impact all nurses have had on healthcare. Nurses worldwide have revolutionized innovation, advocacy, and patient-centered practice, and NPs proudly carry that legacy.
This year’s Nurses Week theme is “The Power of Nursing.” At NP 411, we’re celebrating the nursing origins of the NP role and the vital contribution of all nurses to ensuring healthcare quality and access.
From a bold idea in the 1960s to frontline leaders today, the NP journey is a story of nurse innovation, resilience, and impact that’s still being written now.
Early Foundations (1960s): The Beginning of the NP Role
In the 1960s, a care delivery problem was becoming more apparent. A shortage of qualified care professionals was causing a bottleneck in primary care access, especially for those who needed it most.
In 1965, renowned nursing pioneer Dr. Loretta Ford, and pediatrician Dr. Henry Silver, launched the country’s first nurse practitioner program at the University of Colorado. Their vision was to equip experienced nurses with advanced training to deliver primary care in community settings.
It was a natural extension of what nurses were already doing — listening, educating, treating, and coordinating care — only now with greater scope and autonomy.
1970s – 1980s: Growth, Recognition, and Role Definition
The 1970s saw NP programs pop up across the country. As more nurses entered advanced practice, the profession started to define its identity and earn formal recognition. In 1971, Idaho granted full practice authority to NPs, the first state to do so. Many would follow in its footsteps.
In 1985, the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners (AANP) was founded to support and advocate for this rapidly growing field. With growing numbers came the need for consistent standards, leading to a national movement to certify and formalize NP education and practice. Even as early resistance emerged, nurse leaders continued to advocate for an approach to care that honored their nursing roots, emphasizing access, autonomy, and patient connection.
1990s – 2000s: Legitimization and Policy Wins
By the 1990s, policy began to reflect nurse practitioners’ changing role in care delivery. The 1997 Balanced Budget Act was a turning point, granting NPs nationwide the ability to be reimbursed by Medicare and Medicaid in all settings. This marked a huge step toward professional legitimacy and independence.
With formal recognition came rapid expansion. NPs began stepping beyond primary care and into acute care, psychiatry, geriatrics, oncology, and more, meeting patients wherever care was needed.
Around the same time, the Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) degree was introduced, offering a clinical doctorate that emphasized leadership, systems thinking, and evidence-based practice.
2010s – Today: Expansion, Full Practice Authority, and the Pandemic Effect
As healthcare needs continued to outpace physician availability, NPs stepped in to close the gap, especially in rural and underserved areas where access to care was limited. From chronic disease management to behavioral health, NPs became a lifeline for patients across the country.
In recent years we’ve seen a rise in the push for Full Practice Authority (FPA) legislation, granting NPs the ability to practice independently in more states than ever before. The momentum accelerated during the COVID-19 pandemic, when temporary emergency orders lifted restrictions in many states. NPs rose to the challenge, serving on the frontlines of crisis care.
Today, the fight continues for national FPA and consistent professional recognition. While over half of U.S. states have adopted FPA, many NPs still face legislative and institutional barriers. But with every win, the profession moves closer to the autonomy it has long earned, and the future of equitable care grows stronger.
A Profession Still Shaping the Future
In just 60 years, the nurse practitioner role has gone from a bold experiment to a pillar of modern healthcare. NPs have been on the frontlines for a range of pivotal issues from closing access gaps to leading innovations in preventive care, equity, and patient engagement. The profession’s growth has always been powered by the foundational strength of nursing: patient advocacy, community connection, and whole-person healing.
As we celebrate #ThePowerOfNurses during Nurses Week 2025, we honor that legacy and look ahead with pride. Nurse practitioners aren’t just shaping the future of healthcare. They’re carrying forward the spirit of nursing with every diagnosis, every conversation, and every patient they serve.
