Q: Please share this information with your readers. I have the best job in the world helping people as a nurse practitioner, but I don't know if people are aware of the role the nurse practitioner plays in their care.

Angela Reeves, FNP, Primary Care Associates of Anderson

A: When Ms. Reeves shared an article about her role with me, I wanted to take an opportunity and highlight her contributions with the readers. Excerpts below are from an article published in the South Carolina Nurse (April-June, 2012, page 3) and written by Carole Frances Bennett, Ph.D., APRN-BC, PMHCNS. Dr. Bennett interviewed Angela Reeves, a nurse practitioner in Anderson for the article.

The role of a nurse practitioner has a special place in providing care within the wide scope of health care across the country and particularly in South Carolina. A family nurse practitioner (FNP) provides care for individuals and their families. Nurses work in many areas within health care the hospital, the home, doctors' offices, health clinics and places of employment. The family nurse practitioner has a graduate degree. This advanced education prepares her to care for each group. After completing the program, the FNP takes a national certifying examination and is recognized by the S.C. State Board for advanced practice. The FNP has close relationships with physicians and other health-care providers in a community and provides direct care, and at the same time can guide a health-care team as others need to be involved.

"I tell everyone, we have it so good here," Reeves said in the article. "Nurse practitioners are really valued in Anderson. Everyone trusts us. We are one of the staples of this community. We are nurses first. I tell patients 'we care about you and will take care of you, just at another level.' "

Reeves has been with the Primary Care Associates of Anderson, which consists of 10 physicians and three nurse practitioners, for eight years. Before that she worked at the Internal Medicine Associates of Anderson. The nurse practitioner is skilled in clinical assessments and orders tests and medications as needed for the patient. An FNP can admit patients to the hospital, make daily rounds and discharge patients. Reeves refers patients to other doctors or nurse practitioners in cardiology, pain management and other health-care areas as needed. Being in a practice that includes physicians and other nurse practitioners increases the efficiency of everyone and improves the care that all patients receive.

Reeves has patients she follows at long-term care facilities and even rehabilitation centers. She is able to keep up with her patients as they need different kinds of services over time. This ensures that others involved in her patients' recovery have the background of the individual. She can coordinate the care between the home, the hospital and the rehabilitation center. Reeves even developed a "weight management clinic, which she runs, teaching patients how to change their diets, improve their exercise programs and prevent many of the illnesses that plague the community." Reeves provides screening and preventive care at several local Anderson industries, as well.

Reeves is committed to providing the best care for patients. "There is no doubt; the impact of her care is felt by all around her," Bennett writes. "She really does represent that unique blend of nursing philosophy and care with advanced skills and clinical reasoning. And she does it so well."

In full disclosure, I must add a personal statement. I have such respect for Angela Reeves for her personal and professional commitment to the service she provides patients in her role. She took care of my parents, Nadine and Wayne Broadwell, for many years. During those years, as my parents' health declined, Angela was a central source of care guiding them through many life changes.

Nurse practitioners have a special role in health care, and maybe they are special because they are nurses first, as Angela has said. May is national Nurse Month. So if you have a special nurse who has helped you, say a special thank you.

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Nurse practitioners play a special role in health care