Role Of Nurse Practitioners On The Health Industry

There are four types of Advanced Practice Nurse roles, the nurse practitioner, clinical nurse specialist, certified registered nurse anesthetist, and certified nurse-midwife. The Family Nurse Practitioner is the advanced practice role that will be discussed. According to Hamric, Hanson, Tracy, and O 'Grady (2014) the primary care NP provides care for patients in diverse settings, including community-based settings such as private and public practices, acute, and long-term care settings across the life span (pg. 396). Family Nurse Practitioners have faced many challenges in the medical profession to be recognized as health care providers. Most of these challenges where from fellow nurses. According to Hamric, Hanson, Tracy, and O’Grady (2014) conflict and discord about the Nurse Practitioner role continued to characterize relationships between NPs and other nurses (pg. 18). Despite the resistance to NPs in nursing, physicians increasingly accepted NPs in individual health care practices (Hamric, Hanson, Tracy, and O’Grady, 2014, pg. 18). Physicians readily accepted the role of the Nurse Practitioner, working together to improve patient outcomes and safety.

Advanced practice nurses have core competencies that are similar or are specific to each specialization defined as an advanced practice. The profession of nursing presents favorable circumstances for nurses to specialize in roles with distinct responsibilities and opportunities to contribute to the function of a health care industry with growing demands and complexity. The profession of nursing continues to debate to whom the title advanced practice nurse applies to. Examination of the core concept frame works described by nurse leaders and professional organizations tend to either support or refute the argument related to the use of the term, advanced practice nurse for nursing administrators and educators. For the purpose of this paper the author will explore the core competency similarities and differences of a nurse practitioner and a nurse educator. Nurse educators and nurse practitioners are registered nurses that possess advanced education, skills, and experience. Each specialty nurse has defined scopes of practice with distinct sets of responsibilities, requirements, and skills. Each role represents distinct educational requirements and activities that contribute to the complex and diverse health care industry.

The Institute of Medicine’s 2010 report on The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health acknowledges the changing healthcare sector in the US and describes future vision of healthcare and the role of nurses to fulfill that vision. The United States always strives to provide affordable and quality healthcare to the entire population of the country. In order to achieve this goal an overall restructuring of the healthcare system was necessitated. Nurses are considered to be the central part of the healthcare system to provide high quality and safe patient care. Nursing in the US is the single largest segment of the healthcare workforce with almost 3 million nurses working in different areas across the county. The changing

Over the last several years, the majority of graduating medical students (90%) has been focused on careers in specialized care. (Pickert, 2009) This is because they will make more money in comparison with doctors that are working in a primary care environment. As a result, a shortage has developed with many health care providers turning to Nurse Practitioners. These are nurses with some kind of advanced degree in Nursing. Their job is to diagnose / treat patients and prescribe medication. To fully understand what is happening requires looking at how this trend is having an impact on accountability, quality, costs / health promotion and risk reduction. These different

Nurse practitioners have been practicing and providing care to patients for decades. They are often at the forefront of providing care alongside physicians. They are quickly becoming the primary provider choice for many patients in a world where there is a shortage of good and accessible primary care providers. As health care providers, they have prescriptive authority to diagnose, treat, and evaluate patients. Besides being health care providers, nurse practitioners are mentors, educators, administrators and

Fry, M. (2011). Literature review of the impact of nurse practitioners in critical care services. Nursing In Critical Care, 16(2), 58-66. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1478-5153.2010.00437.x

The success of NPs depends on practicing evidence-based care with competency in assessment, diagnosing, managing patients, and maintaining a caring practice. The nursing component of the NP role continues to be challenged from within nursing, as well as by large national physician organizations. NPs are extensions of nursing practice who are guided by nursing theory. The transformation from nurse to the advanced practice role of NP involves development of advanced knowledge and skills for listening, knowing, being with patients, connecting patients to their communities, promoting health,

Role is a function played by an individual or particular group of individual in a particular situation. It includes connected obligations, behaviors, rights, beliefs, and norms as theorized by people in a social state. The role of a nurse practitioner (NP) started to manifest in the mid-1960s. This came as a response to the nationwide physicians’ shortage. The NPs were then classified under the advanced practice registered nurse (APRN) umbrella. The origin of the NP role in the United States came through the effort of Loretta Ford (RN) and Henry Silver a pediatrician who had insight for the nurses to be developed and be more effectively used to improve the health care. The demand for primary healthcare was increasing as physician were moving to areas of specialty because of the associated income, lifestyle incentives and status. The nurses were to fill the gap. To realize this, education was essential. The nurses where then equipped with skills of performing developmental tests, history taking, doing evaluative procedures, some laboratory procedures and physical examination and referral for medical care that traditionally had been a medicine domain (O’Brien, 2003).

The report shows that the part of nursing must be expanded so that nurses are able to practice to the fullest degree of their education and training. Currently, advanced practice nurses (APRNs) work according to the scope of practice guidelines set forth by their individual state, meaning these highly educated nurses may not be working to the extent of their training but to the individual state laws. The report offers recommendations to streamline these idiosyncrasies and get rid of the red tape so that nurses can work in their appropriate manner and deliver safe quality care to some 32 million Americans who will before long gain access to health care services (American Association of Colleges of Nursing [AACN], 2012). The report correspondingly finds that nurses need to attain advanced levels of education and training through an enhanced education structure which encourages a cohesive academic progression as to safeguard the delivery of quality health care services. Patients are becoming progressively more complex and nurses need to attain the proper skills to care for these persons. Nursing education must embrace the continuous move towards a streamline approach to higher degree programs (Institute of Medicine [IOM], 2010, p. 2). Nurse residency programs

NPs are not only moving into increased roles within the acute care hospital setting, but also into roles in the community as Primary Care Providers (PCPs). The anticipated shortage of physicians to handle an increased number of aging patients already affects my position as a staff nurse at a hospital. A career in nursing offers countless paths to further your education, whether it is to become a specialist in a field of practice, foray into research or to pursue a position as a nurse practitioner. I was interested to learn more information about how expanding the role of Advanced Care Nurse Practitioners (ACNP) may relieve shortages of physicians and lessen the burden on our current healthcare system. Increasing the roles of ACNP would only be feasible if patients are still receiving quality care while decreasing the cost of healthcare. As a nurse returning to school to further my education, I would like to know if pursuing a career as an ACNP would be a viable option for me to continue to interact with patients in an acute care setting in a more specialized role.

“Advanced nursing practice is the deliberative diagnosis and treatment of a full range of human responses to actual or potential health problems.” (Calkin, 1984). Advanced nurse practitioners attempt to maximize the use of knowledge and skills and improve the delivery of nursing and health care services. The field of advanced nursing practice differs from basic practice as the former requires clinical specialization at the master’s level. At this level, nurses become expert practitioners whose work includes direct and indirect patient care. Direct patient care involves caring for patients and their families; this is the focus of my section on nurse clinicians. Indirect patient care includes work as an educator, researcher, and a

The role that nurse practitioner (NP) plays within the increasing complex health care system is a constant changing role with the Consensus Model and the introduction of the Affordable Care Act in 2010. The scope of the nurse practitioner (NP) includes the care of the young, the old, the sick and the well. The educational needs of a nurse practitioner vary greatly from that of a Registered Nurse (RN), in the amount of education as well as the focus of the education. NPs provide coordinated primary care with the use of comprehensive health histories and physical examinations, diagnosing and treating acute and chronic illnesses, the management of medications and therapies, ordering and interpreting tests results, and educating and

In today’s society, the medical field is constantly thriving with technological improvements and the growth of educated individuals that contribute to the well-being of others. Nurses make up the largest majority of the industry, and with that, nursing is the fastest growing occupation. Nursing is a job that allows people to not only take care of the sick but also to experience, learn, and further their interests of the human body.

Nursing is a highly promising profession, yet healthcare institutions are having difficulty filling nursing positions. The nursing profession has evolved since its inception in the 1800’s. Today, various healthcare facilities employ the professionals to assist with patient care. The nursing practice is now a well-paying profession. Despite this, America’s healthcare needs are creating a nursing shortage. Additionally, nurses who seek more challenges in the workplace are taking on roles as advanced nurse practitioners as the United States healthcare system seeks alternatives to satisfy the nation’s doctor shortage.

Historically, nurses focused on the diagnosis and treatment of a disease, sickness or condition and emphasis on health promotion was nonexistent. However, today that has all changed. Nurses are now expected to expand their primary care services to include psychosocial nursing, advocacy, behavioral science, counseling and advocacy in addition to patient assessment, clinical diagnosis and patient-case management. In the article “Defining Nurse Practitioner Scope of Practice: Expanding Primary Care Services,” Sherwood, Brown, and Wardell (1997) state “the role of the nurse practitioner continues to evolve in response to changing societal and health care needs as consumers in all settings seek increasing services”. (Sherwood, Brown and Wardell, 1997).