The selected specialty for this discussion is that of a Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP). Pastor, Cunningham, and Kuiper (2015) indicate that an FNP is an advanced practice registered nurse who collaborates with other professionals to ensure quality family-focused medical services are available to the targeted clients. The purpose of this paper is to give a succinct discussion of this advanced nursing role.
Family Nurse Practitioner
A Clinical Role
The National Patient Safety Goals (NPSG) is a program that was established by the Joint Commission in 2002. The program guides accredited healthcare institutions to promote various patient safety practices. The commission outlines specific programs that can promote safety in healthcare practice. The NPSG program can be used to explain why the role of every nurse practitioner (NP) is clinical (Kutzleb et al., 2015). NPs are always expected to offer quality and direct care to different patients depending on their health needs. Often, such practitioners work without the supervision of physicians due to their academic qualifications. The practitioner is capable of diagnosing, preventing, and treating a wide range of diseases.
Family Nurse Practitioners (FNPs) administer drugs, conduct minor surgeries, offer medical support, and engage in medical research to advance the clinical role. FNPs offer various healthcare services within a family unit or setting. Such practitioners promote health, diagnose and prevent diseases, and offer adequate counseling to their patients (Ellis, Anderson, & Spencer, 2015).
Promoting Patient Safety
The ultimate goal of every nurse practitioner (NP) is to maximize the health outcomes of his or her clients. Family Nurse Practitioners are expected to adhere to the existing patient safety policies. To advance patient safety, many NPs focus on a wide range of aspects such as meaningful use of technology, mitigating risks, and empowering patients to achieve their health goals (Kutzleb et al., 2015). FNPs use their competencies to ensure every healthcare delivery environment is safe and clean. They achieve this goal by promoting cleanliness, proper sanitation, and positive health practices (Kutzleb et al., 2015). They go a step further to educate their patients about safety precautions and health promotion practices.
FNPs are expected to apply their competencies whenever completing their roles. They should ensure their followers focus on the best healthcare practices, maximum safety, and guide their clients to achieve their health needs. Quality and keenness throughout the healthcare delivery process are critical (Pastor et al., 2015). The approach minimizes the chances of medication errors and injuries. These practices will minimize injuries and eventually promote patient safety.
Summary of Articles
Research Article 1
The first article for this discussion is “Gray Matter: Teaching Geriatric Assessment for Family Nurse Practitioners Using Standardized Patients”. The authors acknowledge that the acquisition of evidence-based concepts and dexterities is what empowers students to become competent NPs. The article indicates that the use of standardized patients (SPs) in nursing education can empower more learners to communicate adequately with their clients and improve safety. With this kind of approach, FNPs can develop new concepts such as the application of evidence-based ideas, time management, and leadership (Pastor et al., 2015). The proposed simulation can guide FNPs to become more supportive in a wide range of healthcare settings. Nurse practitioners who acquire these skills will become competent FNPs capable of providing safe healthcare to elderly and young clients. The concept of geriatric assessment can ensure FNPs promote health and offer adequate care across the lifespan (Pastor et al., 2015).
Research Article 2
The second article “The Living Family Tree: Bridging the Gap Between Knowledge and Practice in a Family Nurse Practitioner Program” presents adequate views to explain why FNP graduates should possess passable skills to support the health needs of their clients. In the recent past, educators have been unable to translate theories and concepts into effective engagement within the clinical setting (Ellis et al., 2015). The article indicates clearly that the use of an active learning approach can empower more nurses to understand the unique issues affecting every family care setting. The Living Family Tree (LFT) strategy can ensure learners are capable of using technology to advance their concepts and eventually become skilled providers of quality, timely, and safe care.
Expert Opinion Article
The selected expert opinion is “The gulf between doctors and nurse practitioners”. The author begins by acknowledging the fact that NPs possess adequate skills that can be used to transform the healthcare sector. The expert opinion presented in this article is that NPs should develop appropriate competencies that can be tapped to support the health needs of many clients affected by the current shortage of physicians (Chen, 2013). The expansion of the roles of NPs will ensure more people acquire quality health services. This is true because such FNPs possess advanced healthcare and technological skills that can be used to promote health, treat diseases, diagnose medical conditions, and offer adequate counseling to every underserved population.
Summary
Family Nurse Practitioners come up with evidence-based techniques to promote efficiency, safety, and care delivery. They use their dexterities to diagnose conditions and design powerful care delivery models (Chen, 2013). Such practitioners should, therefore, focus on the best approaches to ensure safe and quality services are available to their clients.
References
Chen, P. (2013). The gulf between doctors and nurse practitioners. The New York Times. Web.
Ellis, K., Anderson, K., & Spencer, J. (2015). The Living Family Tree: Bridging the gap between knowledge and practice in a Family Nurse Practitioner program. The Journal for Nurse Practitioners, 11(5), 487-492. Web.
Kutzleb, J., Rigolosi, R., Fruhschien, A., Reilly, M., Shaftic, A., Duran, D., & Flynn, D. (2015). Nurse practitioner care model: Meeting the health care challenges with a collaborative team. Nursing Economics, 33(6), 297-304. Web.
Pastor, D., Cunningham, R., & Kuiper, R. (2015). Gray matter: Teaching geriatric assessment for family nurse practitioners using standardized patients. Clinical Simulation in Nursing, 11(2), 120-125.