It is commonly accepted that the roles of advanced nurse practitioners in the sphere of health care can greatly vary in accordance with the location of the practices. The responsibilities of a nurse practitioner can include the diagnosis and treatment of chronic disease, the performance of minor procedures and surgeries, the prescription of pharmacological treatments, and many others.
To further specify, a family nurse practitioner is specialized in treating and diagnosing patients that fall into a wide range of ages, from the elderly to children. Professionals are drawn to this practice look for more responsibility in their career and are especially interested in the health of the family unit. Family nurse practitioners offer their services in private and governmental establishments, community health organizations, as well as other systems of healthcare.
The family nurse practitioner’s role to be discussed is the provision of private health care, serving as a sole health care provider for a particular family.
NPSG and Patient Safety
The role of a private family nurse practitioner that acts as the primary health care provider for a particular family is hard to differentiate in terms of the clinical versus non-clinical staff. On the other hand, a private family nurse practitioner does not provide non-clinical services such as maintenance or risk management, thus, the role can be differentiated as clinical despite the fact that it does not always occur in a traditional hospital setting. However, despite the differentiation, any medical professional is evaluated in terms of National Patient Safety Goals that protect patients from harm.
The family nurse practitioner in a role of a primary health provider for a family is responsible for promoting patient safety which includes critical values such as results of critical tests, medication safety improvements, reconcile medications, reduction of harm associated with external factors, minimization of suicide risks, and many other values. The role of a primary family health care provider promotes patient safety by incorporating the NPSG into their practice and collaborating with other professionals if there is no possibility to ensure patient’s safety without the help.
Research Articles Summary
With regards to the family nurse practitioner’s role as the primary health care provider for a family, it is directly related to the responsibility of providing education to all family members. The nature of education provision can include presentations, consultations, clinical instructions in both formal and informal settings, as well as home visits.
This role was investigated by Walsh, Moore, Barber, and Opsteen (2014) who stated that the lack of orientation and education in terms of family medicine not only provides limitations to the professional practice of family health care providers but also negatively affects the family’s attitudes towards health care in general (p. 316).
The researchers collected data through interviews in order to explore the ideas in the greatest depth possible and allow the space for unanticipated responses. Furthermore, the study has identified the importance of teaching family nurse practitioners’ practice to residents in different levels of practice. Thus, the role of a family nurse practitioner is not only limited to educating families in terms of appropriate health care but also includes the education of clinical residents that undergo training to become professional nurse practitioners in the sphere of family care.
The second article related to the role of the family nurse practitioner explored the increased demand for primary care services for families that remain underserviced. Thus, family nurse practitioners have started to frequently collaborate with PAs in order to provide much more efficient health care services to families with which they work. The study investigates 5818 family physicians that completed brief surveys and expressed their need to collaborate with family nurse practitioners, the services of whom greatly improve their professional practice (Peterson et al., 2013, p. 244).
Expert Opinion
According to the article written by Kaakinen, Harmon Hanson, and Denham (2011) included in Family Health Care Nursing: Theory, Practice, and Research edited by Maroney, family nursing practice is important since illnesses are family events that need to be evaluated on a much broader level than personal (p. 3). The authors mentioned three dimensions of family nursing that included the determination of a family’s definition, understanding family health concepts, and possessing information on the elements of a healthy family. Thus, in order for a family nurse practitioner to offer the best possible services in the role of a primary health care provider for a particular family, it is crucial to incorporate the mentioned dimension into the practice.
Apart from the dimensions, it is important to remember that family health is defined as a “dynamic changing state of well-being” (p. 4) which relates to a variety of factors related to both social and personal aspects of the family as a unit. Therefore, a family nurse practitioner in a role of a primary health care provider should adapt to the specific characteristics of the family and not only provide health care services but also offer support in accordance with the social and personal characteristics of the particular family.
References
Kaakinen, J., Harmon Hanson, S., & Denham, S. (2011). Family health care nursing: An introduction. In P.J. Maroney (Ed.), Family health care nursing: Theory, practice, and research (pp. 3-32). Philadelphia, PA: F.A. Davis Company.
Peterson, L., Phillips, R., Puffer, J., Bazemore, A., & Petterson, S. (2013). Most family physicians work routinely with nurse practitioners, physician assistants, or certified nurse midwives. J Am Board Fam Med, 26, 244-245.
Walsh, A., Moore, A., Barber, A., & Opsteen, J. (2014). Educational role of nurse practitioners in a family practice center. Canadian Family Physician, 60, 317-321.