Future Nurse Practitioner

As a provider of care, professional nurses depend on research, theories, and evidence based practice to guide the care they provide to patients. Nurses deliver care to their patients based on information they have learned through many years of school and training. Training for nurses and other providers of care is founded on theories, research, and evidence based practice in the healthcare field. Theories, research, and evidence based practice are all important for providing care to patients and each can be used in a different manner depending on the situation. Clinicians often use research based evidence to design and implement care that is high-quality and cost effective for patients. Evidence based practice can be used to provide care to patients in a steadily changing clinical environment. (PDF page 8-9). Nursing theories are frequently used as frameworks for establishing nursing care interventions and assessing

A good protocol is created from evidence-based medical practices agreed on by medical staff involved in anticoagulation therapy (i.e., all stakeholders) and addresses key decision points and respective courses of action integrated with the clinical judgment and experience of the practitioner.

Nurses are responsible in providing holistic, quality care to their clients. In order to effectively provide such care Boswell and Cannon (2009, p. 2 & 7) states that nurses must base their provision of care on the most current, up-to-date health information available and sound nursing knowledge. This is where evidence-based practice (EBP) comes in. Polit and Beck (2010, p. 4) defined EBP as "the use of the best clinical evidence in making patient care desicions". This usually comes from research conducted by nurses and other healthcare professionals. Thus it is pertinent that research reports are critically analyzed.

Evidence based practice, “involves integrating the best available research evidence with professional expertise while also taking account of patient preferences the patients state setting and circumstance and health care resources” (Gerrish, K. Lathlean, J, 2015). As the health care profession constantly changes, then it is vital that all evidence based practice is kept up to date with current information and research, relating to nursing practice. Always assuring that the patients need are taken into consideration (Sackett et al, 1996).

The present healthcare system in the United States (U.S) faces various challenges due to changing demographic, economic and political pressures. The need of primary care provides are increasing as a result of increasing access to healthcare, increasing expenditures, and growing populations of the elderly and chronically ill patients. Even with the plenty of evidences that Nurse Practitioners (NP)are well educated, competent, health care professionals who are able to improve access to high-quality health care and lower health care costs, restrictive practice regulations still exist. The quest for NPs independence practice has surpassed and it became a necessary practice transformation to improve the health of the nation (The National Organization

Over the course of decades medical treatment has advanced causing an increase in the wellness of patient clinical outcomes. A large portion of the improvement is due to the vital role nurses play in the delivery of safe and quality care to their patients. For many years different methods of treating patients have evolved due to the continued research for the best practice. Nurses, researchers and people with questions have always tried to find better and efficient solutions to treat their patients detailing the best possible evidence-based practice. Evidence-based practice is an important tool to use for clinical decision making however one must understand it first. Interpreting Evidence-based practice allows nurses to comprehend the steps to determine if new evidence is needed and realize there are some benefits to utilizing up to date research and obstacles that may impeded the research into practice. .

Healthcare in the United States in the 1950’s and 1960’s experienced an upheaval with the expanded availability of the Medicare and Medicaid programs and the increased specialization of medicine. The shortage in providing health care coverage to low-income women, children, the elderly, and people with disabilities gave clinically experienced nurses the opportunity to fill the primary care void. This was accomplished with the introduction of the first Nurse Practitioner program. The NP program was co-created in 1965 by a nurse educator, Loretta Ford, EdD, RN, PNP, and a physician, Henry Silver, MD, at the University of Colorado as a non-degree

Over the last several years, nurses have been facing critical challenges. This is because there is a shortage of qualified individuals inside many facilities. At the same time, they are expected to serve a variety of roles in order to address the needs of stakeholders. To fully understand what is occurring requires focusing on the use of evidence based practices inside a clinical setting and formulating strategies for overcoming barriers to them. Together, these elements will highlight the underlying challenges and how they can be addressed in the long term. (Lundry, 2009)

A Nurse Practitioner can be defined as the performance of advanced- level nursing actions, with or without compensation and by a licensed registered nurse with advanced education, knowledge and skill.

The findings from good, current, reliable, valid or trustworthy research are the basis for maintaining high standards of care and all nurses must practice based on the most up to date evidence (NMC 2008). It is now an important part of nursing to actively participate in research and evidence based practice in order to continually improve the standard of the health care system. This process ensures that nurses are kept up to date with relevant information needed to provide the most effective care for patients.

As a child, I dreamt of having a career in a medical field. Throughout my late elementary and middle school years, I wanted to become a Pediatrician. I remember this one memory from when I was younger. I was at a local Pediatric office getting my yearly checkup done and thought about how I wanted to be like Dr. Hletko (my family’s Pediatric Doctor). He has been my doctor since I was born. Anytime I was sick, he would be there to diagnose the problems and prescribed me my antibiotics to get better. Not only did he help me get better, but he also helped so many sick kids get healthy and I aspired to be like him one day. As I got older and started high school, I changed my career choice and wanted to become a Nurse Practitioner (APRN). APRN’s

In 1893 a graduate nurse, Lillian Wald, founded the Henry Street Settlement (HSS). The purpose of HSS was to assess the needs of the poor population that lived in the overcrowded, and rat infested tenements. The HSS visiting nurse program visited thousands of patients and obtained standing orders for emergency medications, and treatments. In the 1930s developed the Frontier Nursing Service (FNS) which was considered to be the first primary Nurse Practitioner (NP) role. The FNS nurses made diagnoses, and treated patients, while dispensing herbs, medicines with the acceptance of the medical advisory committee. In 1931 American Association of Nurse Anesthetists (AANA) was founded. In 1965 Pediatric Nurse Practitioner (PNP) certification

“Evidence-based practice (EBP) is using the best available research findings to make clinical decisions that are most effective and beneficial for patients” (Chitty & Black, 2007, p. 275). As a professional, evidence based practice incorporates critical thinking and improving your clinical judgement. In order to stay up to date with evidence based practice the nurse can attend continued education, professional conferences, read journals, and become a member of a professional organization (Chitty & Black, 2007, p. 276). The AANP

environment to achieve the highest quality outcome for patients and their families. Nurse Practitioners provides highly individualized preventive health care to patients who cannot receive the proper treatment because of their financial situation. NP focuses on the patient’s well-being and the illnesses that affect them and their family. They make sure that the patients are well educated about their disease process while preparing an individualized care plan which encourages the patients to become a part of their decision making process in their daily routine care.

Most are born with an innate sense of direction they are born with an intangible predilection that guides them either left or right. At a young age I didn’t realize it, but fortunately for me that was not my case. I always felt displaced and felt as if I was lacking that A to Z map. So I tried it all and opened every door to find my niche, that missing direction I so longed for. Some doors I opened and merely peeked in, such as traveling the U.S. and Europe sleeping either in a small car or crashing on a friend’s sofa to see if that particular place suited me. Others I walked in head first such as the time my cousin convinced me I was superman