Innovation and change have become critical components of nursing care, because healthcare is rapidly transforming. Nurse practitioners are expected to play leading roles in innovating, as well as participate effectively improving practice and patient outcomes for various populations. Thus, they need to be well trained, knowledgeable and prepared as change agents in order to meet the expectations and challenges of healthcare now and in future (Hain & Fleck, 2014). Particularly, advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs) need to be well trained on how to become change and innovation agents, not feasible without deep knowledge of how to use decision support tools grounded on evidence based research. At no time in history other than current times,
The nursing profession plays a vital role at the policy table in implementing full practice autonomy for Nurse Practitioners. Nurse Practitioners are contributing experts of the health care system. They have the education and skills needed to be a resource and partake in the policy process and political implementation. This particular policy development will require not just one nursing representative, but many, to push for and symbolize the dire need of full practice autonomy for Nurse Practitioners. In fact, the National Council of State Boards of Nursing [NCSBN] (2017) has formed the Advanced Practice Registered Nurse (APRN) Consensus Model, which streamlines the education, regulation, licensure, accreditation, and certification across the nation.
My knowledge in the Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) continues to expand as I progress through the DNP program. The knowledge I have attained while in the study of the DNP I and DNP II is priceless. For example, recognizing stakeholders and utilizing networking has helped me to progress on my DNP project (Gokenbach, 2012). I also have a better understanding as well as the purpose of a DNP project. My mentors have been great in directing me in remaining on the right track.
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,
Despite accepting advanced roles and responsibilities APRNs have often encountered various barriers in the delivery of effective health care based on the variability in the legislative requirements endorsed by various states. To overcome these barriers and improve the delivery of healthcare the Consensus Model for APRNs has been endorsed by 41 various nursing organizations focusing on defining the roles, population foci and implementation strategies across the nation (American Nurses Association [ANA], 2017). Creating a standard expectation regarding the practice of APRNs will help to foster more consistent, quality education APRN programs nationwide (Rounds, Zych, & Mallary,
Patient care experience and the need for improvement toward patient-centered care is aligned with nursing excellence (Stimpfel, Sloane, McHugh, & Aiken, 2015). With the expectation of nursing excellence, the role of the nurse has expanded over the years with the current trend of focus on policy change. These policy changes are geared towards changes in patient care which will have a positive impact on patient outcomes. The nurse can become a leader in advocacy with the goal of raising awareness to health care concerns (Mason, Gardner, Outlaw & O'Grady, 2016). The purpose of this post is to describe two organizations which impact the practice of nursing and show the role these organizations play in nurse education and research.
Nurse Leadership Strategies to Facilitate Change during Informatics Initiatives Transformation Innovative changes are occurring in nursing practice due to the implementation of technology. Nurse leaders are awakening bringing new ideas to the practice that excite, inspire, inform, and engage nurses to become a part of the changes. These authors speak about building a relationship using communication; action plans to encourage change. Leaders need to embrace change is important to
Nurses have to work with the health care team to develop and implement the best-individualized, evidenced-based plan of care for the patient. Nursing practice is informed and modified in response to systematic evidence based decision making. Nurses use research to provide evidence-based care that promotes quality health outcomes for individuals, families, communities and health care systems as well as to shape health policy in direct care, within an organization, and at the local, state and federal levels (Quigley, 2017). Nurses communicate to patients to help them with their needs including physical, emotional, cognitive, social, and spiritual. They communicate with the client, support persons, other health professionals, and people in the community.
The transition from an Associate Degree (AD) nurse to a Bachelor’s of Science in Nursing (BSN) is a rewarding time during a nurse’s career. There are many reasons why nurses return to college to get their BSN degree. Some return to meet a personal goal others return for professional advancement or are mandated by their employer to do so. Over the past few years many organizations stopped hiring AD nurses or drastically reduced the number they hire. Many AD nurses who delayed returning to school regret not doing so sooner when they realize the wealth of knowledge gained from getting their BSN degree.
The article grabbed the attention of many including the legislators and policy makers who failed to recognize the contribution of nurse practitioners in making healthcare more affordable and accessible. The aftermath of this article is the current state of advance nursing practice. Even though we have not overcome all the barriers but there has been a lot of improvements in existing barriers. As Safriet mentioned in her article that nurse practitioners can be fundamental in restructuring the complex healthcare system. Nurse practitioners have repeatedly proved that they can provide cost-effective and high quality care to patients of all
They may have a lack of confidence in their ability to adapt to new technologies, or may perceive the change as a threat. Some nurses have adopted a short cut process of administering medication to save time, which is pre-pouring medications. Workaround is another big barrier which occurs when nurses pass the medication without scanning the medication and the patient’s identification (ID) band, to save time and scan them later. Which is dangerous, and a high risk for making an error. The change agent or the nurse leader will need to use the driving forces that will help the project to be successful.
This entry will discuss the DNP student peer-reviewed presentation at the Haitian American Nurses Association (H.A.N.A) monthly meeting on March 18, 2017. The DNP student had the opportunity to speak to members who were non-health professionals, nursing students, nurses, ARNP’s and DNP’s. The DNP student had the chance to prepare for this presentation with her mentor Dr. Marie Etienne. Preparation was done via a conference call. H.AN.A’s meeting was from 7:00PM to 10:00 PM.
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.
The Complexity Adaptive System (CAS) is a system that can adapt to an ever-changing environment. CAS and the professions of nursing are closely related because the profession of nursing is constantly evolving in many directions. Back in the late 1800s, a registered nurse had a very narrow scope and they are categorized in the lower pay grade hierarchy (Chaffee & McNeill, 2007). In today’s profession of nursing, the nursing roles and scope of practice have expanded into over 100 specialties and contribute to essential roles in various parts of the healthcare system (Chaffee & McNeill, 2007). This just shows that the simple title of a registered nurse encompasses a huge role of responsibility because the daily hospital operations and the delivery
Advanced Practice Registered Nurses(APRNs) have expanded in numbers and competencies over the past several years. Because of the increasing needs of APRNs, they are being highly valued and became an integral part of the healthcare system. APRNs include Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists, Certified nurse-midwives, Clinical Nurse Specialists and Certified Nurse Practitioners. Each has a distinct history and context but shares the commonality of being APRNs. They are educationally prepared to presume responsibility and liability for health promotion or maintenance, assessment, diagnosis and management of patient problems which includes the use and prescription of pharmacologic and non-pharmacologic interventions.
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).