Loretta Ford is best known for founding which nursing role?

• A. Nurse Practitioner
• B. Clinical Nurse Specialist
• C. Nurse Anesthetist
• D. Nurse Midwife

Answer: (A)

The idea being tested is how advanced practice nursing began and who helped shape it into a primary care model. Loretta Ford helped expand nursing practice by co-developing the Nurse Practitioner role in the 1960s. She and Dr. Henry Silver created the first NP program to train nurses to deliver primary care—doing comprehensive assessments, diagnosing common conditions, providing treatment, and, in many settings, prescribing medications—especially for children. This innovation addressed gaps in pediatric care and demonstrated how nurses could take on more autonomous, physician-appropriate responsibilities while staying grounded in nursing principles. Other advanced roles like the clinical nurse specialist, nurse anesthetist, and nurse midwife have different histories and purposes, but Ford’s lasting contribution was establishing the nurse practitioner as a distinct, expanded practice model.