Advanced Practice Roles in Nursing
The sphere of healthcare is rather complex, and professionals who are employed in it are required to perform various roles to make their services productive and benefit patients. As the number of the medical staff reduced while a significant rise in patients was observed, an advanced nursing practice was established as a step to solve this problem. As a result, healthcare services became more cost-effective, and the representatives of the general public obtained an opportunity to consult qualified practitioners. In the framework of their clinical practice, advanced practice nurses are expected to base all their actions on theory and research. They need to cooperate tightly with physicians and be able to make a diagnosis or to prescribe treatment and medication to those patients who have some illnesses. Thus, pertaining primary care, nurses are expected to provide care that is similar to the one offered by a physician. The necessity to act this way is usually determined by nurses’ skills, availability of physicians, the requirement to improve care provision and access to services. Nurses can replace physicians in emergency and general practice, as they have needed knowledge due to extensive training and education.
Advance practice nurses can also be involved in the education of other professionals because they have enough experience and knowledge to share it with nursing students. For instance, teaching someone to become a nurse practitioner, they are expected to develop academic programs that are appropriate for a healthcare environment that alters constantly. They also need to work in clinical settings to supervise their students and ensure that they perform all needed tasks. Being coaches and mentors, nurses should assist learners in practice improvement.
As administrators, nurses should ensure that patients and their families obtain high-quality services and benefit from provided care. They need to supervise employees and conduct counseling. Both hiring and firing decisions are also included in their responsibilities. Administrators need to represent other nurses and their ideas when communicating with the senior staff and deal with associated budgeting decisions. Finally, they need to focus on policy-making and recommend alterations if they are required. In addition to that, advanced nurses are expected to manage health information. They acquire data and analyze it so that it can be stored and shared among the personnel. Digital information should also be available to the medical staff of other facilities.
It is also significant to distinguish between advanced practice nurse (APN) and advanced nurse practitioner (ANP) because they reveal different notions even though they seem to look alike. APN is any nursing professional an advanced degree, it can include representatives of various specializations, especially “certified nurse midwife (CNM), certified registered nurse anesthetist (CRNA), clinical nurse specialist (CNS), and nurse practitioner (NP)” (“Advanced practice registered nurse,” n.d., para. 2). At the same time, an ANP is an experienced and well-educated nurse who provides care to patients working in a team with other health professionals. He/she makes a diagnosis and treats clients directly or refers to a practitioner who can help. An ANP can be an APN due to the obtained education while an APN is not always an ANP.
My aspired advance nursing practice role is a family nurse practitioner (FNP). This professional is to obtain specific qualifications and licenses to provide practice. These professionals occupy a crucial place in the sphere of healthcare since they take care of people across their lifespan. My decision is based on the desire to help patients of different ages and develop close relations with them. In addition to that, I can easily find a common langue with various people, which can affect my interactions with other professionals positively, as I value cooperation and mutual help. My experience of working with diverse population can be beneficial for practice. Moreover, I pay much attention to constant learning and improvement of skills.
Selected Advanced Practice Role
FNPs need to be graduate-educated and have a certificate to be able to perform their functions. They need to manage chronical and acute illnesses, providing care to women, children, and men of different ages and backgrounds. Clinical responsibilities of FNPs may incorporate diagnosing diseases, ordering tests and interpreting them, performing examinations, prescribing drugs, and giving counseling (“Role and scope,” 2017).
Personally, I would like to work at Baptist Hospital of Miami. It is a non-profit religious hospital that takes care of more than 100,000 patients per year (Jorge, 2016). FNPs who are employed in this facility serves people of ages. In order to obtain this position, candidates have to receive certification as either general or specialized practitioner from a program recognized in Florida, such as the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners. An ARNP License is also required by the facility.
To become a FNP, I need to have good critical thinking and communicational skills, compassion, understanding, and leadership skills. It is also important to develop a way of combining personal and professional life efficiently. FNPs should also be ready to have limited authority in addition to a wide range of responsibilities, which often occurs to be rather problematic. Thus, it is also vital to develop positive relations with other nurses and physicians whose assistance is likely to be needed in practice. These professionals should be able to educate patients, selecting appropriate methods. They need to be ready to take responsibility for the lives of other people and to reveal an appropriate degree of dedication. FNPs have an opportunity to become members of various organizations, including “Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments and American Academy of Nurse Practitioners” (“Family nurse practitioner,” 2018).
Leadership Attributes of the Advanced Practice Role
Personally, I believe that my current leadership style is transactional one. It is often perceived positively by followers, as it presupposes the presence of the response, depending on people’s performance. It makes me act reactively and provide reward or punishment when needed. With its help organizational culture can be developed under the guidance of one leader. Planning and execution are associated with the interests of the followers, and they are used to motivate employees.
Nevertheless, I should consider a possibility to become a transformational leader if I want to be a successful FNP. In this way, I should inspire nurses to work with my own example and charisma. The values and needs of my followers should be considered while working. All actions should be proactive so that the issues that occur in the turbulent environment can be addressed before they become critical (Surbhi, 2015). As a result, this innovative approach makes it possible to alter the existing organizational culture. What is more, this leadership style presupposes the possibility to have several leaders and to motivate followers by group interests.
Focusing on the domain of interpersonal relationships, I manage to develop a positive communicational approach with both patients and other health professionals. It is possible to share information without any issues and doubts associated with its quality. Moreover, allocation of tasks can be managed easily, as followers are highly motivated and willing to participate.
References
Advanced practice registered nurse. (n.d.).
Family nurse practitioner: Professional organizations. (2018). Web.
Jorge, J. (2016). Baptist Hospital of Miami research paper.
Role and scope of practice of a family nurse practitioner. (2017).
Surbhi, S. (2015). Difference between transactional and transformational leadership.