The role of the nurse in managing OA risk and progression has been evolving, for example, in primary care, teaching, research, and other tasks and settings.32-35 (See Table 2.) With the projected increase in OA prevalence forewarning of a much larger patient population, it will be essential for facilities to have coordinated OA teams staffed with trained professionals. But there is a critical shortage of these practitioners: there are roughly 500 nurse members of the Association of Rheumatology Health Professionals, a division of the ACR, and 415 physicians were in rheumatology training in 2009. Furthermore, there are limited data on specific nursing interventions for OA and their effectiveness in primary care, rheumatology, and orthopedic surgery practice settings.35, 36 Nurses assist in diagnosing and assessing the disease's functional and psychosocial impacts, provide medication and pain management,37 monitor disease progress,38 educate patients, and coordinate care with other providers (physical, occupational, and psychosocial therapists39). Understanding the clinical manifestations of and the diagnostic criteria for OA provide the foundation for these activities.