Introduction
The complexity of modern tasks promotes the need for the increased efficiency of health workers, their ability to make tough choices, act under pressure, etc. Under these conditions, nurses, who work with patients and who satisfy their needs, become the most vulnerable group. Advanced practitioners have enough autonomy to provide high-quality medical care; however, more responsibilities and opportunities will help them come close to physicians and assist communities in the preservation of their health. Even though today NPs can prescribe medications, there are still barriers related to the scope of authority they might face. The US states fall into three main groups restricted, reduced, and full practice authority (Boylan, Mager, & Kazer, 2012). Operating under the restricted authority nurses have to coordinate their actions and prescriptions with a physician. That is why the current nursing issue is the alteration of existing approaches in all states to provide NPs with full practice authorities for them to act independently. The reconsideration of NPs (nursing practitioners) scope of practice will guarantee improved results.
Overview of Selected Project
The suggested evidence-based practice project revolves around nurses ability to provide services like ordering, conducting, supervising, and interpreting diagnostic and laboratory tests, prescription management, and nonpharmacologic therapies, along with the decision to provide even more autonomy in all US states for NPs to be ready to come close to physicians, especially in areas where care delivery could be complicated by numerous factors (Boylan et al., 2012). Several points should be touched upon during the investigation of this evidence-based practice. First, the existing legal framework provides an NP with an opportunity to prescribe pills and other services. At the same time, it introduces specific limits as in the largest US states like Texas, Florida, California, etc., NPs act in terms of restricted practice conditions which means that all their prescriptions should be approved by a collaborating physician who becomes responsible for treatment (Boylan et al., 2012).
Otherwise, in states like Colorado, Wyoming, Oregon, etc. Family Nurse Practitioners have a full practice authority which means that their autonomy is high and they can prescribe Schedule II-V substances without a physician’s approval (Boylan et al., 2012). Finally, in states like New York, Vermont, New Jersey, etc. there is a probationary period that presupposes that NPs have to cooperate with physicians to prescribe medications and acquire their approval to prove their competence (Boylan et al., 2012). Therefore, several facts evidence the improved outcomes along with the increased efficiency of nurses who are provided with a greater degree of autonomy and who can offer numerous services to patients without physicians approval (Cahsin et al., 2015).
About the suggested project, the sphere of nursing, and the NPs level of autonomy in different states are discussed. Moreover, considering the character of the issue, several other spheres should also be touched upon. The great responsibility of any decision in health care introduces some ethical issues. Therefore, liability and legal aspects should also be taken into account. Nevertheless, the great significance and topicality of the questions provide the rationale for its investigation. The fact is that the autonomy of NPs across the USA has always been an ongoing issue (Kleinpell, Hudpeth, Scordo, & Magdic, 2012). It gives rise to vigorous debates as ethical, legal, and professional issues are discussed. At the same time, the expected outcomes could help to attain significant improvement in the sphere of nursing and care delivery models. That is why the issue of NPs autonomy in different US states and its reconsideration are discussed.
Application to MSN Program Specialty Track
The outlined issue also becomes especially important for a family nurse practitioner. The given MSN program specialty track is focused on the preparation of specialists who work autonomously or in cooperation with other health workers to provide family-focused care (Nyirati, Denham, Raffle, & Ware, 2012). A family NP can offer a wide range of services to monitor the state of a certain family and assure disease prevention during the lifespan. In the course of his/her functioning, the given specialist obtains the most important information about a family case-record and also faces numerous situations that demand a specific response (Nyirati et al., 2012).
Analyzing the above-mentioned issue from a family NPs perspective, numerous benefits should be emphasized. As this sort of specialist is one of the main caregivers, his/her ability to administer pills and provide more complex services without a physician’s approval in all US states will increase the overall efficiency significantly. Moreover, the healthcare sectors image will also be improved as the level of family satisfaction with a worker will also increase. Finally, physicians will not be overloaded with patients and cases where minimal intervention is needed. In such a way the implementation of this evidence-based practice will alter a family NPs functioning greatly.
Nursing Issue and Evidence
Thus, delving into the selected sphere, it is crucial to provide several most important details that are often associated with it. First, it often comes with legal issues. The fact is that different US states provide various limits for nurses functioning. There are several reasons for the existence of these limits. For instance, the lack of skills and needed competences if to compare with a physician could deteriorate the final result. That is why an NP could be prohibited to perform certain activities or provide services without collaboration with a physician. Therefore, the question of drug abuse remains topical. The given system is introduced to control drug and other medications distribution and ensure that no abuse of power will be admitted. Yet, the question about the knowledge base remains. A specialist should know the effect one or another pill has on the state of a persons health.
However, several nurses do not possess the needed competence, and additional training could be needed. Despite the complexity of the issue, its comprehensive investigation is still crucial. According to the latest statistics, the modern practice setting provides numerous cases when the problem occurs: in emergent cases, an NP is not able to prescribe treatment or has to obtain a physician’s approval to provide a certain service (Liu, Guarino, & Lopez, 2012). This has a great negative impact on the image of the health care sector and might deteriorate the outcomes. Especially topical the issue becomes in a place where care delivery is complicated because of different reasons. In such a way, the reconsideration of approaches in the majority of the US states is expected to affect the main stakeholders in several ways. As one can understand, the efficiency of nurses impacts the functioning of a medical unit directly.
They improve the state of patients health, assist physicians, and contribute to the improvement of a hospitals functioning greatly (Risling, Risling, & Hottslander, 2017). In such a way, these specialists impact all stakeholders, and alterations in their functioning will impact them. The provision of greater autonomy will help to reconsider NPs traditional role and help to improve spheres that need some alterations. It is expected that in case nurses can prescribe pills and provide more diverse services to patients, the outcomes will be improved due to the timely character of help and their ability to initiate treatment without the physicians approval. Additionally, it will help to improve the state of the health of different communities that suffer from the lack of qualified medical services.
Evidence-Based Practice Model
However, the implementation of the given approach demands a comprehensive investigation of the existing health care setting to guarantee that the suggested intervention will improve the functioning of the system. In such a way, it is crucial to formulate an appropriate evidence-based question. Considering the existing perspectives and alternatives, the following PICO question could be suggested:
Family Nurse Practitioners will the provision of full practice authority in all US states compared to the preservation of the current status result in the improved outcomes and more efficient functioning of the health care sector?
Family NPs become the target population, which means that the research will be focused on the examination of their altered role in terms of the new working conditions and legal framework. The creation of the pattern that presupposes the provision of the full practice authority in all US states should be investigated as it could either improve or deteriorate the functioning of the healthcare sector. It should be compared to the existing pattern which presupposes restricted, reduced, and full practice authority in different states and demonstrates stable outcomes (Liu et al., 2012). In case the suggested reconsideration results in better outcomes (increased autonomy of nurses along with their better functioning) or promotes nurses improved motivation, it could be considered efficient enough to continue the investigation and conduct other researches related to the issue. The more efficient functioning could be measured using NPs and patients’ feedbacks, the overall state of the healthcare sector, the scope of physician-nurse relations, and statistics related to outcomes.
Conclusion
Altogether, the modern healthcare sector passes through a period of change, and it is extremely important to introduce new ideas that could cultivate new cultures. In this regard, nurses increased autonomy and ability to administer pills and deliver additional health services without physicians approval in all US states could be considered one of the possible interventions. At the moment, states fall into three main groups restricted, reduced, and full practice authority ones that provide different levels of independence. The implementation of the model that presupposes the same level of autonomy in all states could contribute to the improved outcomes and guarantee that family an NP will be able to work under different conditions and increase their efficiency significantly. These alterations will alter the image of healthcare significantly. However, the effect is doubted by some investigations. For this reason, evidence-based research is needed either to prove or to refute the expected effect and provide the scientific rationale for the application of the approach.
Finally, writing the given assignment, we obtained the unique possibility to gather information about the current healthcare setting in which nurses have to work and problems they face in everyday life. The given data will help to increase the efficiency significantly as the possible solution for existing problems will be suggested.
References
Boylan, L., Mager, D., & Kazer, W. (2012). Nurse practitioners in home health care. Home Health Care Management & Practice, 24(4), 193-197. Web.
Cahsin, A., Buckley, T., Donoghue, J., Heartfield, M., Bryce, J., Cox, D.,… Dunn, S. (2015). Development of the nurse practitioner standards for practice Australia. Policy, Politics, & Nursing Practice, 16(1), 27-37. Web.
Kleinpell, R., Hudpeth, R., Scordo, K., & Magdic, K. (2012). Defining NP scope of practice and regulations: Focus on acute care. Journal of the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners, 24(1), 11-18. Web.
Liu, L., Guarino, J., & Lopez, R. (2012). Family satisfaction with care provided by nurse practitioners to nursing home residents with dementia at the end of life. Clinical Nursing Research, 21(3), 350-367. Web.
Nyirati, C., Denham, S., Raffle, H., & Ware, L. (2012). Where is family in the family nurse practitioner program? Results of a U.S. family nurse practitioner program survey. Journal of Family Nursing, 18(3), 378-408. Web.
Risling, T., Risling, D., & Hottslander, L. (2017). Creating a social media assessment tool for family nursing. Journal of Family Nursing, 23(1), 13-33. Web.