Advanced Practice Competencies: Nurse Practitioner

Nursing Core Competencies, Leadership At The Forefront Paul Oviasogie Broward College Nursing Core Competencies, Leadership At The Forefront Daphne Mallory stated, "Leadership is the art of serving others by equipping them with training, tools and people as well as your time, energy and emotional intelligence so that they can realize their full potential, both personally and professionally.” In nursing, RNs are encouraged to become proficient, professional leaders in the workplace. Nurse leaders embrace the responsibilities of their fellow nursing staff as well as the care of their patients. Also, leaders in nursing are devoted to advocating for their patients, ensuring patient and nursing satisfaction, delivering safe,

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).

Conclusion In conclusion, APNs are equipped to deliver the same safe, efficient, and high- quality care as physicians. The clinical and professional background of nurses gives them an extraordinary opportunity to change the healthcare landscape and promote cost-effective, compassionate, and patient-centered care for people. In a study performed by Dill, Pankow, Erikson, & Shipman (2013), the patient preferred the APN to physicians due to greater accessibility, more personalized and compassionate care, increased comfort with communication, and past positive

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?

Reflecting on the past seven weeks I have acquired countless knowledge, which I will use to further strengthen my profession as an Advanced Practice Nurse. The course allowed me to think beyond my current practice knowledge and acquired innovative ways to evaluate the situation at hand. The learning objective in program outcome four helps set standards that I will use to guide my clinical practice to meet various healthcare needs. Using the case studies has helped to further enhance my knowledge on disease physiological state, using differential diagnosis, disease manifestations, and clinical presentation. It has also taught me the skills on how to differentiate between similar diagnoses to properly identify the problem and treat the patients.

Direct clinical care provided by advanced practice nurses (APNs) is defined by six characteristics – use of a holistic perspective, formation of therapeutic partnerships with patients, expert clinical performance, use of reflective practice, use of evidence as a guide to practice, and use of diverse approaches to health and illness management1. APN practice is distinct from medicine in its holistic approach to patient care. As conceptualized in Shuler’s model, although advanced practice nursing does encompass certain aspects of medicine, it distinguishes itself from the medical model by merging both nursing and medical values.2 The holistic perspective emphasized in APN practice considers the patient as a whole, encompassing all dimensions

Objective One During my clinical day three, I demonstrated entry-level competence in professional nursing practice in caring for patients with multiple and/or complex unmet human needs. I addressed safety needs, safety in medication administration, effective communication, and surveillance for my patients. First, I addressed safety needs my ensuring the appropriate safety measures were implemented for the patients. Some of the safety measures included, wearing non-skid socks, wearing a yellow armband which indicated fall risk, keeping the bed in lowest position, two side rails up, bed locked, and the call light within reach.

There is a high significance for a nursing student completing their degree in nursing to start their career as a nurse practitioner. Nursing students must prepare to become nationally certified by an accredited body upon completion of their schooling in order to advance their career (AANP, 2016). This academic accreditation process helps to show that the students have met the requirements to practice as a Nurse Practitioner in their population focus testing. The scope of practice will be affected based on the certification that the practitioner obtains. If the Nurse Practitioner obtains a certification as a nurse specialists in pediatrics, oncology, geriatrics, emergency medicine, etc. there are scopes and standards of practices that the practitioner must not act outside of (ANA, 2016). There are also state regulation scopes of practices that allow for Nurse Practitioners to practice independently, with reduced practice, and with restricted practice. Along with these practice environments, Nurse Practitioners must abide by facility and institutional policy and procedures that outline their scope of practice (ANA, 2016). There are very few states that still allow Nurse Practitioners to practice without a national certification. These states in the future may require the nurses however to in fact take national certification as more employers and third party insurers for malpractice are looking

Advanced practice nurses (APN) have a vital role in the future of health care, especially since the enactment of the Affordable Health Care Act. With more citizens having health insurance coverage they will be seeking health care providers, and there are not enough physicians to care for them all. According to Letiziam (2014), advance practice nurses are licensed autonomous health care providers that have been trained to evaluate, diagnose, and treat patients and their conditions. Advanced practice nursing is an umbrella that covers four separate roles of nurses, this includes: the certified nurse midwife (CNM), certified registered nurse anesthetist (CRNA), certified nurse practitioner (CNP), and certified nurse specialist (CNS).

The role of Nurse Practitioner came into inception in the mid 60s. This was in response to a shortage of physicians across the nation. With the demand for primary care services for all ages, one option to close the demand gap and increase the number of providers is the option for states to revisit the laws governing how Nurse Practitioners practice and provide care to patients in different settings like hospitals, outpatient clinics and others. Whether they work autonomously or under a physicians' supervision, their scope of practice involves but is not limited to assessment and planning with a goal to provide the the best care for optimal patient health and outcomes.

Meleis and Schumacher (1994) stated that “nurse-client encounters often occurs during transitional periods of instability precipitated by developmental, situational, or health illness change” (p. 119) which may alter the lifestyle of individuals and their family members (p. 119). Therefore, with NPs being the front line providers in support of holistic and family–centered care, they are significant in meeting the needs of such a vulnerable population. To address this issue, Meleis has published a framework that addresses role insufficiency and role supplementation. Role insufficiency is self defined and perceived as the inability to adequately perform one’s role (Meleis, 2010, p.16).

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 focus of this role analysis paper will be on the role of the family nurse practitioner (FNP), specifically within New Mexico, since the scope of practice can vary from state to state. An FNP, also referred to as simply nurse practitioner (NP) in many studies, is a nurse with an advanced practice degree as well as national certification. Their focus is on preventative care for people of all ages, from young children up to elderly adults. A majority of FNPs work in primary care clinics, but are not limited to this field, some also work within hospitals or in specialized clinics as well. When discussing the difference between the NP and the clinical nurse specialist, one study stated that "initially developed to meet the needs of underserved

Working with state office leadership to develop policies and procedures based on evidenced based practices is crucial to the health of the public. The director attends county board of health meetings to professionally represent nursing and converse with board members to identify interventions to assist with addressing the needs of their community. These responsibilities highlight the need for all public health nurses, especially those in leadership roles, to have a BSN degree. As pointed out, the opportunities for a nurse transitioning from an AD position to a BSN position are diverse and endless. Patients, healthcare facilities and the nursing profession benefit from advanced degree nurses.

Importance of nurses A nurse is a health care professional who is engaged in the practice of nursing. Nurses are men and women who are responsible (along with other health care professionals) for the treatment, safety and recovery of acutely or chronically ill or injured people, health maintenance of the healthy, and treatment of life-threatening emergencies in a wide range of health care settings. Nurses may also be involved in medical and nursing research and perform a wide range of non-clinical functions necessary to the delivery of health care. Nurses develop a plan of care, sometimes working collaboratively with physicians, therapists, the patient, the patient 's family and other team members.