Introduction
The functions of nurses have changed in recent decades. Unlike the past, when nurses were merely helpers and sanitary workers, they now perform a wide range of duties depending on the role specification. However, there is still some confusion about the list of activities that have to be done within some nursing jobs. This paper reviews the role of a nurse practitioner and the misconceptions that are common in the workplace regarding this matter.
Evaluating the Role
A nurse practitioner performs a clinical type of duty. He or she is entitled to prescribing medicine, making diagnoses, and offering treatment. This type of job resembles the duties of a therapist with certain exclusions. However, there is one feature that separates this nursing job from the doctors’ duties. Every nurse must be compassionate towards patients’ needs and recognized both verbal or nonverbal signs that they need help with some questions or practices. A nurse practitioner should also delegate some of the duties to other health care staff that he or she is not experienced with, like the difficult clinical diagnoses.
According to the article written by Beth Greenwood (n. d.), the definition of a nurse practitioner lies in the combination of education, work duties, and special approach. All of the advanced nurses must be graduates with at least a Master’s degree. Some of the subjects taken in an institution include anatomy, physiology, and pharmacology. It is common that nurses work with groups or families instead of focusing only on one patient. Their unique approach helps to build relationships of trust and partnership that help people to reduce their time of hospital stay and expenses on health care.
Main Difficulties and Misconceptions
The primary difficulty in evaluating the nurse practitioner role is the lack of standards. Each state has its own regulations regarding the requirements for this profession. For instance, some states require a nurse practitioner to be supervised by a physician doctor, while others make it optional and leave him or her ability to work independently.
The lack of standardization creates another problem, which is the difference in duties that hospital managers impose on these specialists. For instance, nurse practitioners have to stay longer hours and take additional responsibilities due to the lack of personnel. Moreover, some hospitals place the vacancy advertisement saying that they need this type of employee, while the job description does not comply with the standard duties. Many hospital managers admit that they do not even look for a candidate with the corresponding education. The reason for placing such advertisements is to attract specialists in a situation of the staff shortage, as the title of the nurse practitioner makes the offer look more prestigious.
Article Review
Several studies suggest that the role of a nurse practitioner remains in the scope of concepts that need to be better identified. For instance, some researchers focus on the level of independence that these specialists have in the workplace during the process of decision-making and routine duties (Poghosyan, Boyd, & Kuntson, 2014). The article contains the results of a series of interviews determining this factor. It appears that only one-third of the total number of respondents has the ability to make independent decisions, while others need to consult their partner physicians to make a diagnosis or prescribe medication. The authors note that nurse practitioners have proved to be cost-effective regarding their positive influence on patients, yet teamwork is a factor that can present certain challenges to this structure. Restrictive policies set by the state or hospital management may have an adverse effect on the productivity level of nurse practitioners and the level of patient satisfaction.
Another article features the description of nurse practitioners’ role also within the scope of the teamwork issue, combining it with a framework that would be useful for treating acute conditions (Kilpatrick, Lavoie-Tremblay, Lamothe, Ritchie, & Doran, 2013). The discussed framework offers to evaluate the NP’s role through three dimensions, which are the structure, the process, and the outcome. The structure is divided into patient, ACNP, organizational, and team level. The practice part includes both medicine skills and communication patterns. Finally, outcomes are measured by the combination of treatment quality and costs. The latter is determined by the dimension of a patient, a hospital, and a health care system in general. The advance framework also features two additional outcomes, which are based on safety and team. The former element focuses on safe patient discharge from a hospital facility. Teams also should receive benefits from the role of a nurse practitioner, as he or she should bring additional knowledge and skills through the work process.
Conclusion
Although a nurse practitioner is a kind of job that is currently required in many hospitals, it lacks clear standards, which creates difficulties during the hiring and employment processes. Nevertheless, NP’s create value for a health care facility by providing quality medical treatment and improving relationships with patients. Research articles suggest that nurse practitioners are able to increase the knowledge within their teams, yet they require independence for decision-making.
References
Greenwood, B. (n. d.). Family nurse practitioner role & responsibilities. Chron.
Kilpatrick, K., Lavoie-Tremblay, M., Lamothe, L., Ritchie, J. A., & Doran, D. (2013). Conceptual framework of acute care nurse practitioner role enactment, boundary work, and perceptions of team effectiveness. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 69(1), 205-217.
Poghosyan, L., Boyd, D., & Knutson, A. R. (2014). Nurse practitioner role, independent practice, and teamwork in primary care. The Journal for Nurse Practitioners, 10(7), 472-279.