A nurse leader is expected to be a capable team leader and organizer, skilled in care delivery and administrative roles. Therefore, becoming a quality nurse leader requires being a competent care provider and mastering administrative skills and leadership techniques on a solid level. A Doctor-Nursing Practice (DNP) degree will help me obtain the necessary knowledge in the areas crucial for a future nursing team leader. In particular, the DNP program will be essential for expanding my skillset beyond the clinical aspect of nursing. The evidence-based material of the DNP curriculum will be highly valuable for enhancing my abilities in leadership, clinical outcome analysis, and team management departments.
In this regard, I see a DNP degree as a critical step in my professional path. Most importantly, the DNP program will open access to various career opportunities — from work in leadership and administration to direct patient care. However, I do not perceive the DNP degree solely as an important resource for career advancement. The knowledge gained during the learning course will also facilitate my professional development, which will be beneficial both for my future patients and my colleagues. In the end, I feel that DNP education will assist me immensely in becoming a better nursing specialist by strengthening both my personal and professional characteristics.
Overview of Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities
I cannot expect that attaining a DNP degree will be an easy task. Completing a DNP program will undoubtedly require focus, dedication, and full concentration of the mind. However, since a DNP degree can be qualified as the pinnacle of nursing education, one does not enroll in it without proper preparation. In this regard, I believe I have the knowledge, skills, and abilities for successfully earning the DNP degree.
First of all, I have completed a Master’s degree in nursing and grasped the necessary work ethic and professional basis. I understand how nursing specialists should perform their duties since I completed the eligible practice hours and became a registered nurse. Secondly, I engaged both in practical and theoretical aspects of the nursing profession throughout my education. In particular, I practiced the skill of teamwork in the healthcare setting and obtained an understanding of healthcare business basics. In regard to theory, I acquired the medical knowledge necessary for a professional nurse and learned how to analyze scholarly sources. My experience in working with academic papers and my ability to grasp new information in a timely manner will help me in research-based activities of the DNP curriculum. Lastly, I have developed a sense of commitment to the task; I do not let distractions affect my performance as I value duty and professional ethics above everything else. Overall, this combination of knowledge, skills, and abilities gained through my previous education will assist me in earning the DNP degree.
Scholarly Project Topic: Polypharmacy in the Elderly as Risk of Increasing Adverse Medical Outcomes
I identify the implications of population aging for healthcare as a potential sphere of my DNP scholarly project. In particular, I am interested in exploring the subject of polypharmacy and its adverse medical outcomes in elderly patients. Advancements in medicine have significantly prolonged the life of an average human. Nevertheless, one should realize that a longer life does not automatically imply a good-quality and disease-free life. The benefit of living longer often comes at the cost of experiencing multiple health problems in older age. Polypharmacy or the use of multiple medications by one individual may be seen as a rational response to this issue. However, polypharmacy is often reported to cause severe adverse outcomes in older adults. For instance, polypharmacy has been linked to drug-related problems (drug-drug and drug-disease interactions), physical frailty, and cognitive functions impairment (Wastesson et al., 2018). Whereas it can be difficult to establish a causal relationship between polypharmacy and specific adverse outcomes, I would argue that polypharmacy remains a significant issue.
In this regard, addressing polypharmacy in a clinical setting becomes a professional responsibility of a nurse leader. This task requires analytical and leadership skills since a nurse leader has to thoroughly analyze and interpret clinical outcomes associated with polypharmacy and implement the necessary solution. Furthermore, nurse leader carries responsibility for the patients’ well-being, which becomes even more critical in the case of elderly patients. According to Keine et al. (2019), the risks of adverse drug reactions are higher due to the age-related changes in pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics. Therefore, researching, developing, and implementing practical interventions aimed at reducing inappropriate polypharmacy in prescribing is necessary for fulfilling nurse leaders’ duty to the patients and team members.
In summary, my scholarly project will be related to reviewing the possible adverse medical outcomes of polypharmacy in elderly patients. In addition, I will attempt to formulate practical suggestions aimed at polypharmacy reduction in prescribing. Polypharmacy resulting from prescription errors may cause life-threatening effects on the patients and damage the healthcare organization’s reputation. Consequently, solving such a concerning matter seems to be a goal worthy of a nurse leader.
References
Keine, D., Zelek, M., Walker, J. Q., & Sabbagh, M. N. (2019). Polypharmacy in an elderly population: Enhancing medication management through the use of clinical decision support software platforms. Neurology and Therapy, 8(1), 79-94.
Wastesson, J. W., Morin, L., Tan, E. C., & Johnell, K. (2018). An update on the clinical consequences of polypharmacy in older adults: A narrative review. Expert Opinion on Drug Safety, 17(12), 1185-1196.