The nurse practitioner (NP) role was developed to assist with the health care provider shortage in the 1960’s. Historically, the NP was rooted in primary care and focused on, “prevention, health and wellness, patient education, and including the patient as a partner in making clinical decisions and cost-benefit alternatives so that patients were empowered to weigh treatment options” (Hamric, p. 397). Although, the role of the NP has expanded over the decades the primary function has remained constant, to make quality healthcare accessible to all.
Family Specialization
FNPs provide clinically competent care that is evidence based, using primary, secondary and tertiary prevention as its focus. The Master of Science in Family Nursing specialization
Discussion Post NURS 6531 Week One Nurse Practitioner Competencies Quality As we further our education to become advanced practice nurses (APNs), it is crucial that we understand the behaviors or core competencies expected of all APNs. For the purpose of this discussion, I will evaluate the core competency of quality and how I will integrate this behavior into my daily practice.
A family nurse practitioner (FNP) is a member of the health care team who provides quality and cost-effective care to patients across the lifespan, from newborn to old age. They provide care in various healthcare settings such as outpatient clinics, hospitals, community health centers and public health departments. They focus on disease prevention, health and wellness promotion. The FNP empowers patients through patient education and partnerships in clinical treatment decisions (Hamric, 2014; “Nurse Practitioner,” 2014). How does one become an effective Family Nurse Practitioner?
Nurse practitioners will be present at all outpatient locations functioning as primary care providers in family practice and other practice settings (pediatrics, geriatrics, acute care, and other specialties). CNMs will be providing midwifery care along with primary health care of women. Nurse-midwives in United States have demonstrated excellent results in their field of practice throughout the years, especially attending to underserved, uninsured, low-income women (Lindeke, Fagerlund, Avery, & Zwygart-Stauffacher, 2010). CNSs will serve the role of case managers and care coordinators mainly at the hospital leading discharge planning of those patients with complex health problems. CRNAs will provide their services at the hospital for the patients in the intensive care unit.
The scope of practice of a family nurse practitioner enables them the ability to serve as a primary care provider for families. This includes providing care for each member of the family individually and for the entire family collectively as a whole. Family nurse practitioners typically work in either a family practice or community health setting, where they are often responsible for the care of the entire family. Within each setting, there are numerous cultural variations that a family nurse practitioner might encounter. It is important that the family nurse practitioner is able to meet the families’ and are culturally competent when doing so.
In conducting their duty, FNPs need to educate their patients frequently on certain issues including diet, and lifestyle issues relating to the patient’s health problem. The FNP role also requires the nurse to prepare patient educational material on proper medication and other issues relating the patient’s wellbeing. The FNP diagnoses patients, uncovers underlying medical complications, and plans a proper plan of care to ensure that the patient receives proper treatment. Additionally, FNPs constantly collaborate with other health care providers such as nurse practitioners with other specialties, physicians, nursing scholars, and the government. Apart from providing health care services, Family nurse practitioners are involved also involved in teaching of other FNPs, nursing research, patient advocacy, and policy creation at both the state and the national level (Nurse Journal,
As we have been noted the role and the scope of practice of the nurse practitioners in the healthcare system are unmeasurable. The nurse practitioners (NPs) play a tremendous role in providing healthcare to the people in the United States. Their presence has been recognized in developing the health care industry not only in the US but also globally. Despite the role that the NPs have played into the healthcare system, they still encounter some challenges that can impact their practice. One of these challenges is the NP autonomy of practice.
Role of Family Nurse Practitioners: Case Study The shortage of primary care physicians has been a problem in health care system and will continue to the next decade due to increasing of aging population. According to National Governors Association (NAG) (2012), the growth of the aging population combined with the initiative of the Affordable Care Act, the problem of primary care providers shortage is worsening. Nurse Practitioners (NPs) are educated and prepared to perform primary care services as physicians do. More importantly, studies showed that NPs’ role as primary care providers achieve equal or higher patient satisfaction rates (Evangelista et al., 2011, Albers-Heitner et al., 2013).
APA Annotated Bibliography Andrus, L. H. & Fenley, M. D. (1976). Evolution of a family nurse practitioner program to improve primary care distribution, Journal of Medical Education, 51, 4, 317-324. (E) This article examines the role of the Family Nurse Practitioner in the delivery of primary care in California. Bullough, B. (1974).
The American Association of Nurse Practitioners (AANP): It was formed in 2013 by the fusion of the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners (founded in1985) and the American College of Nurse Practitioners (founded in 1995). The purpose of this association is to advocate for the issues and performance of the nurse practitioners. AANP’s mission is to lead nurse practitioners in turning the health care system into patient-centered care. According to the AANP website, this organization has more than 60,000 individual members, and 200
Recently the advanced practice registered nurse (APRN) became a very important profession due to the major changes in the healthcare system and the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) goals that focus on providing patients with affordable but quality care, improving patient health outcomes, expanding care to the underserved areas, and lowering the costs. It became apparent that over the years nurses played an important role in healthcare system. According to the National Governors Association (2012) “The demand for primary care services in the United States is expected to increase over the next few years, particularly with the aging and growth of the population and the passage of the Affordable Care Act (ACA)” (p. 1). In addition,
The path that has led me to pursue a career in the medical field started about five years ago. In 2010 I was informed by my employer about downsizing our hourly employees and possible relocation for managers. At this time I was also told I would be expected to earn my MBA and eventually relocated because they would be eliminating my department at the current location. It was a goal of mine to go return to school but at this point I was not sure if wanted to continue in my current field. Being an accountant and an assistant controller I earned a very good living and I was successful at my job but never felt passionate or enjoyed my job.
Nurse Practitioner Interview I spoke with a friend’s sister, a recent graduate DNP, who works as a women’s health NP at a public health clinic system in Utah. Role The role of the women’s health care nurse practitioner can vary widely depending on the setting. J. Yale sees patients for both annual visits as their main care provider and for gynecological issues (personal communication, September 9, 2016). “Many people don’t realize you can do annual visits,” she said, “for example, I can treat someone for high blood pressure in the clinic, in an office setting.”
Not all heroes wear capes, they wear scrubs too. The career I plan to pursue is a nurse practitioner. A nurse practitioner diagnoses and treats illnesses, independently or as part of a healthcare team, such as hospital. Their focus is disease prevention towards their patients and everyone. Nurse practitioners may order, perform, or interpret diagnostic tests such as lab work and X-rays, they may also prescribe medication.
They assess, diagnose and treat acute and chronic illnesses as well as preventative healthcare for individuals and families. As their care is family-centered, they must also be able to understand the relevance of the family’s identified community. In addition to the nine essentials as outlined by the AACN, the FNP must meet competencies in advanced health assessment skills in order to differentiate between normal and abnormal findings. They should able to use screening and diagnostic strategies to develop diagnosis and they must be able to prescribe medications to enable them to work as independent practitioners (Competencies for Nurse Practitioners, 2012). In order to meet these competencies, the Consensus Model for APRN Regulation (2008) requires three separate graduate-level courses in advanced physiology and pathophysiology, health assessment and pharmacology as well as appropriate clinical experiences across the age
In the clinical setting, the nurses’ expertise can be used to make clinical assessments and recommendations for routine care at a lower cost than a physician visit. This would increase the number of patients seen and increase the quality of the care provided. The advance practice nurse would be able to hone in on preventative measures and increase patient education. The advance practice nurse can also make recommendations about practice changes needed to facilitate better health outcomes through the use of evidence-based practice. Nursing leaders are aware of how important nursing science is to provide needed evidence to transform practice, even though, finding the time and resources to support any research activity is often challenging (Stone, 2017).