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 role of a nurse as a patient advocate is an important one. The main purpose of this role is to respect patient decisions and boost patient autonomy. Nurses must advocate for their patients and facilitate optimal health, functioning, and wellness. These patient advocacy responsibilities include assuring that patients understand their medical diagnosis and treatment regimen, listening to the patient's’ concerns, and respecting their healthcare decisions (Ronnebaum & Schmer, 2015). Providing patient advocacy will continue to enhance healthcare encounters and
An important concept to focus on is continuing education. Health care changes all the time. With new technology, new evidence based practice, and new tools, procedures and medications being introduced at increasing and steady rate. This change to health care presents an important task to nursing as well as other health care professionals that directly relates to patient care and
In this section, I will start to talk about the nurse practice act and how it improves patient care around the world. The Nurse Practice Act is laws that define responsibilities of the nurse and the scope of practice within their range. The range of activities and services as well as the qualifications for practice. The act describes what constitutes unprofessional conduct of misconduct and investigation and the disciplinary procedures for complaints filed against a nurse. These acts are in place to protect patients and families from harm as a result of unsafe or incompetent practices of unqualified nurses. We use the Nurse Practice Act to protect the patient and their families. Information about the Nurse Practice Act can be found on the National
Healthcare is highly regulated at the federal and state levels. Laws are written to address different principles. These laws reflect societal expectations and are designed to guide us. As advanced practice nurses, we have a responsibility to fully understand the law and play our part in shaping health care policies that affect our patients and practice.
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.
Intellectual competencies and technical skills are developed in the nurse for the ability to assist individuals, who are ill or well, in coping with their health care needs (ENMU, 2015). We believe that the professional nurse functions in the roles of an educator, care provider, patient advocate, manager, researcher, and a leader (NMSU, 2013). We believe the nursing based knowledge of caring contributes to health and sovereignty of all individuals throughout their
Appropriate health care continues to be one of the major challenges throughout the nation. Financial and educational hindrances can produce negative health effects on individuals and communities. Advanced practice nurses can implement their evidence based knowledge and skills within any environment to increase the knowledge and health of the surrounding populations. However, nurse practitioners must comply with the protocols and laws mandated by the board of nursing. This paper will discuss the setting in which nurse practitioners practice in, along with the laws and limitations that they must adhere to at all times.
Each of these subdivisions require different means of knowing and communicating. Nurses may only be expected to know a small amount of information on a wide variety of diagnoses, while a doctor may be expected to know a far larger amount of information on an even wider scale. There are also certain expectations for communicating among and within these subdivisions. Means of communicating within the nursing community is often far different than that of doctors and even so, communication between doctors and nurses. Though these means of communication may differ between subdivisions of the medical community, it is essential that all members are aware of the proper means of communication, as well have enough knowledge about the topic at hand to correctly interpret the information received. With a patient’s life at risk, insufficient means of communication, or a total lack of communication, could lead to further complications, or the ultimate failure -
As a nurse can make a huge difference in the health of my patients by many methods. Nurses can teach their patients education regarding the disease process that make be affecting the patient at that time. Nurses give patients resources to improve their lives and disease outcomes. Nurses pass medications and teach procedures to patients to help them achieve compliance with their health related needs. Nurses can improve a patient’s health by teaching them emotional coping
The role of the Advanced Practice Registered Nurse (APRN) is multifaceted. According to the Consensus Model for APRN Regulation (CMAR), the APRN is a registered nurse (RN) who has a finished an accredited graduate-level program to become a particular APRN. The APRN expands one’s expertise beyond the practice of an RN to provide more autonomous and comprehensive care (APRN Consensus Work Group & National Council of State Boards of Nursing [NCSBN] APRN Advisory Committee, 2008). Upon reviewing the American Nurses Association’s Standards of Care and Professional Performance, the CMAR, and the local state’s Nurse Practice Act, the APRN may gain insight into one’s scope of practice. However, there are strengths and weaknesses associated with these APRN standards and scope of practice statements that the APRN must consider.
Right now, nurses all over the country are busy taking care of sick patients. Healthcare is continually evolving and changing. It seems like patient’s needs are becoming greater by the day. We’ve been told for years now that with the aging of the baby boomers the need for nurses will grow. These patients are often complex with multiple medical problems that need to be managed. These growing patient needs require nurses to have excellent critical thinking skills and can make split-second life or death decisions. So, who is more prepared for these difficult decisions? Is it the nurse with the two-year education? Or is the Baccalaureate nurse better prepared to handle these increasingly difficult patient populations?
An important part of nursing is to integrate health and disease prevention into the lives of individuals. As nurses, we are often the frontline people who interact with patient and the community. It is our responsibility to strategize ways to promote being health, preventions of diseases and remaining safe. The main and probably most important way to do this is by educating and teaching. According to Kemppainen, Tossavainen, and Turunen (2013), “health promotion by nurses can lead to many positive health outcomes including adherence, quality of life, patients’ knowledge of their illness and self-management” (p. 490). Some strategies for health promotion included giving information to patients and providing the education and being involved
Providing care to a patient is a particularly challenging process that requires a great deal of effort from a nurse. A nurse’s ability to give quality care to their patient is an important aspect to a patient’s life both now and in the future. As such, nurses must exhibit specific qualities in their practice in order to maintain the best standard of care for their patients. Given this, I believe that the standards of knowledge, advocacy, and self-awareness are foundational to the nursing practice and to a nurse’s capacity to provide quality patient care.
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. In the U.S. (and increasingly the United Kingdom), advanced practice nurses, such as clinical nurse specialists and nurse practitioners, diagnose health problems and prescribe