Introduction
The health care industry has many areas that may seem unrelated to the health care services’ provision. Nurse administrators, nurse informaticists, and many other positions are not related to the provision of the health care services, and they are called indirect care providers. Direct care providers are occupied in such areas of the health care services’ provision as adult health care, gerontology, family health, and others.
Despite the differences in their roles, both indirect and direct care providers are the parts of the health care system. Considering the peculiarities of each role, the paper is aimed at exploring the competencies of indirect care providers advanced role, the competencies of direct care providers advanced role, and evaluating the similarities and differences these competencies have.
Advanced Role of Indirect Care Provider
In the health care industry, an indirect care provider is a health care professional that is occupied with administrative, educative, or other duties. They are not connected with the practical provision of health caring. Core competencies of an indirect care provider are deep knowledge in such areas as administration, personnel management, nursing informatics, nursing education, and many others.
Thus, nurse educators must know how to facilitate the learning process, be change agents as well as leaders, develop as the nurse educator to pursue quality in the educational process, and know how to teach nurses to be effective health care providers (National League for Nursing, 2016). A nurse administrator must be aware of the organizational techniques to be used in the work process, have deep knowledge in the personnel management, have exceptional leadership qualities, and must know how to be stress-resistant.
A nurse informaticist must be proficient in nursing and computer sciences, be able to manage and analyze the data, be capable of supporting the patients, personnel, and all parties involved in health care provision process in the decision-making process (Troseth, 2012). The competencies of indirect health care provider include all the activities aimed at the organization, facilitation, and effectiveness of the health care provision process. These competencies do not include direct health care provision.
Advanced Role of Direct Care Provider
In the healthcare industry, a direct care provider is a health care professional that is occupied with the practical provision of health care services. The nurse practitioner (NP) is a professional nurse that provides services in such areas as family care, gerontology care, neonatal care, pediatric acute and primary care, and many others. The core competencies address diverse areas, from scientific foundation competencies the to quality and independent practice competencies (Thomas et al., 2014; Task Force Team, 2013).
A quality NP must be competent in everything that relates to the healthcare provision practice. Such a professional must know the theoretical basics of the health care process, be an excellent specialist in the practical application of these services, and be aware of the related technologies and information relevant to the area. Additionally, such a professional must know policies and legal consequences of inappropriate actions, have leadership qualities, must be the highly ethical person, constantly educate oneself to pursue the highest standards of quality services’ provision, be an efficient negotiator, have skills of a psychologist, and possess the variety of other qualities.
These qualities are focused on the quality provision of practical medical help to the patients. The NP competencies do not include administrative work, for example, and they are not connected with any kind of organizational activities.
Similarities and Differences
Among the similarities in the implementation of the competencies within the selected roles, the following can be outlined. Direct and indirect care provider roles include the extensive education in the selected areas. Both require very deep knowledge in each area to provide quality services. Additionally, a nurse administrator, for example, must be aware of the peculiarities of NP’s work to understand the most effective ways of work process organization.
NP, on the other hand, should understand the organizational issues and specifics to know how the system works. In other words, both professionals in their areas should know the area of each other to the necessary extent.
Among the differences in implementation of the competencies within the selected roles, the following can be outlined. The direct care providers must be highly qualified in the practical application of the latest and the most efficient techniques and methods available in the industry. They must be aimed as the best possible result for a patient. It requires continuous education and constant improvement of practical skills. Indirect care providers do not have such critical responsibilities to face, so the pressure is not that significant. It makes the work of indirect care providers less error-dependent but still very important.
Conclusion
Summing, the paper explored the competencies of indirect care providers advanced role, the competencies of direct care providers advanced role, and evaluated the similarities and differences these competencies have. The research provided the following results. Both indirect and direct care providers must be highly proficient in the area, have the necessary certifications, and possess deep knowledge of healthcare basics.
However, indirect care providers’ education and work experience are focused on the management of human and other resources, must have advanced leadership qualities, and be aware of the organizational processes within a healthcare facility. The direct care providers’ education is focused on the practical application of healthcare provision skills such as practice nursing, end of life care, neonatology, family care, and many others.
References
National League for Nursing. (2016). Nurse educator core competency. Web.
Task Force Team. (2013). Population-focused nurse practitioner competencies. National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties. Web.
Thomas, A., Crabtree, K.M., Delaney, K., Dumas, M.A., Kleinpell, R., Marfell, J., … Wolf, A. (2014). Nurse practitioner core competencies content. Web.
Troseth, M. (2012). Roles, competencies, skills, organizations and legislative aspects. Integrating Quality, Safety, and Education (QSEN) Strategies into Nursing Competencies. Web.