Nurse Practitioner Role

As our healthcare continue to evolve, Advanced Nurse Practitioners' role is a crucial key component in the way health care is delivered in multiple settings, particularly in the primary care to improve patient's health outcomes. Nevertheless, the existing barriers limit nurse practitioners to practice to full capacity or extent of their training and education. One of the main obstacles faced by the advanced practitioners are the laws that govern the profession. Presently, NP practice rules and regulations vary from state to state(Hain and Fleck, 2014).

The health care industry is in need of a strong nursing workforce that can provide quality care. The present nursing shortage is only predicted to worsen as the baby boomers retire and health care needs expand. The shortage is projected to reach more than one million nurses, and reform is needed to increase the interest in nursing therefore funding is needed for this transformation ((American Association of College of Nursing, n.d.). Prevention is essential to quality care therefore public health nurses need to be trained and have incentive to take these positions (American Association of College of Nursing, n.d.). There is also a growing need for advanced nurse practitioners to assist in running clinics to personalize patient care and improve relationships between health care providers and patients (American Association of College of Nursing, n.d.). With around 2.4 million providers, registered nurses make up the largest group of health care professionals ((American Association of College of Nursing, n.d.). They are involved in every aspect of patient care, and when there are not adequate nurses to care for patients, barriers to quality health are created. This makes it so vitally important that the nursing shortage be addressed focusing on education, practice, retention, and recruitment (American Association of College of Nursing, n.d.).

The rise of nurse practitioners is the direct result of a shortage in primary providers. The passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and Americans’ demand for quality and affordable health care in the 21st century also are contributing factors. The shortage of physicians is still problematic today, as there has been a steady decline in medical students and residents responding to the need for primary-care providers in family practice and internal medicine. However, the number of NPs continues to increase; their “per-capita supply is projected to increase annually by an average of 9 percent” (Naylor & Kurtzman, 2010, p. 894). This physician-shortage trend and increase in NPs are also observed in education. Naylor and Kurtzman (2010) found there was a 3 percent decrease in

Family Nurse Practitioners practice independently in several states, although some states require that a collaborative agreement with a physician be in place. The scope of practice of the FNP mirrors that of a Family Physician and the education and training of the FNP overlaps into the specialty area of Family Medicine in that conducting physical examinations, diagnosing, ordering and interpreting tests, as well as prescribing medications are intricate parts of their responsibilities; much like a primary care physician’s. Because of the more holistic nature of the nursing profession, there are some unique characteristics that differentiate an FNP from other primary care providers. There is a marked focus on the well-being of the

Fairman and D’ Antonio (1999) examines how the nurse practitioner movement has redefined the relationship between physicians and nurses. There have been changes to medicine and new prospects resulted, most specifically in the form of the nurse practitioner role. This role was able to take away the monotonous areas of practice for physicians. As the profession has evolved, nurses have become more knowledgeable and were able to care for a more varied range of patients. The American Medical Association and the American Nurses Association disputed issues relating to influence, power, and control. This resulted in noteworthy dynamics and debates regarding hierarchy within the healthcare system. A divergence between medical influence and nursing

As the nursing needs grew many nurses sought graduate degrees in nursing which prompt an accelerated growth in graduate nursing programs (Hamric, Spross, & Hanson, 2009). Back to the first founded nurse practitioner program was in 1965 at the University of Colorado by a Loretta C. Ford and Pediatrician Dr. Henry Silver. Both Ford and Silver established a non-degree certification program that would serve as breaking ground for other universities to later follow, creating more nurse practitioner programs grounded in nursing theory (Hamric, Spross, Hanson, 2009). While it was a debate with nursing professors as to what their preparation should consist of it was agreed that nursing education should have its foundation on research based practice.

Thank you for your thoughts. There is currently a shortage of physicians and an increasing growth for new insured patients. Specifically now, that by law every one has to have medical insurance. There are certain states in the US that are not giving full scope of practice for the Nurse Practitioners, nor giving them the right to prescribe medications and treat patient without a physician oversight.(Iglehart, J. 2013).

Over the last few years, the nation health system has gone through some significant changes. Factors such as rising costs of healthcare, population increases, aging in the population as well as divergence in the health division has played a large role in shaping the health industry. Nursing is one of the professions has gone through a paradigm change in its organization and capabilities, structure and role stipulations (AHRQ, 2015). Nurse Practitioners (NPs) are registered nurses who receive advanced education and clinical training, in a wide variety of areas that range from preventive and acute health care services to individuals in all age groups. Nurse practitioner is usually involved in the direct practice of nursing, care, and medicine. At the same time, majority of nurse practitioners practice their skills in several different areas but most are in an ambulatory setting as compared to other nursing roles that are in an acute care setting (AHRQ, 2015).

The role of a nurse practitioner has changed and progressed over the time since their inception. Nurse practitioners in today’s environments of hospitals and clinics in treating primary care has expanded. Their roles has expanded that in some states a nurse practitioner can work in a clinic stand-alone without an overseeing physician. Do all states offer these privileges to nurse practitioners some ask and the answer is no. Some states still have the requirement that nurse practitioners must be overseen by a physician. In today’s environment of physician shortages this leads to nurse practitioners being limited in the field of scope of primary care. Not a lot of physicians are going into primary care because of the lack of money that they may earn as a general physician over as a specialist. This problem has led to the shortage of physicians in the field of general medicine and what hospitals and clinics are trying to do to remedy the situation by using nurse practitioners and physician assistants. These organizations see nurse practitioners as a means of filling this void in primary care. Studies have shown that nurse practitioners deliver a higher quality of care or equal to that of a physician. Clinics in states that allow a nurse practitioner to practice freely from a physician are able to create openings in areas that physicians typically would not apply for. These states are seeing more nurse practitioners and physician assistants in rural areas by allowing

Nurse practitioners have been providing healthcare in the United States since the 1960s. The first Nurse Practitioner program was founded by Dr. Loretta Ford and Dr. Henry Silver in 1965 at the University of Colorado (American Association of Nurse Practitioners, 2016). The role of the APN was developed during a shortage of primary care physicians, similar to what we are experiencing today. In the 1960s, there was a high demand for primary care in the underserved population. Today, nurse practitioners are widely known for their impeccable, compassionate care throughout the entire population.

The APN movement began in 1965 by Dr. Loretta Ford and Dr. Henry Silver whose vision of nurses having the ability to diagnose, treat, and evaluate independently founded the first nurse practitioner education program (Lugenza, 2015). The education program broaden the nurses’ roles to focus on illness prevention and health care promotion and integrated the nurse role with advanced medical training and expertise (Lugenza, 2015). Dr. Ford and Dr. Silver’s love for the nursing practice specifically allowed nurse practitioners to identify, assess, and manage common acute and chronic health problems, appropriately referring complex problems to physicians (Silver, Ford, & Stearly,

Most national health care systems across the globe are founded by primary care though the vision for primary care as well as the individuals providing it is still vague. For decades, nurse practitioners (NP) have provided primary care and reports illustrate that this care is not only of high quality and cost effective but also guarantees increased access to care to the vulnerable and minority populations (Lindeke, Grabau, & Jukkala, 2004). These professionals offer a broad range of nursing care services including patient health assessment through a holistic framework, identification of nursing and medical diagnoses, prescribing and planning treatments, injury and illness prevention, and promoting wellness. Despite the efforts of the governments to promote quality improvement in healthcare, the shortage of nurse practitioners has made it difficult to meet the rising demand for health services.

Nurses have a central role on transforming healthcare system, which focuses on patient-centered care and deliver primary care in community setting rather than acute care setting. Nurses must have scientific knowledge and skills to provide higher quality care, minimize medical errors and promote the patient safety. Nurses have a crucial role in minimizing the rate of infection, facilitating the transition of a patient from hospital to home, prevention of diseases and promotion of health status (The national academic press, 2011). This paper summarizes the feedback shared by three nurse colleagues regarding how the practice of nursing is expected to grow and change due to the restricting of the U. S health care delivery system.

With the current state of the health care system, APNs are an important part of addressing issues. The trend to use APNs is an important for meeting patient needs at a global level (Nardi & Diallo, 2014). For nurse practitioner (NP), health care issues impact the quality of care for patients. Mary has 15 years of experience in clinical settings that encompass children to adults. Her background in pediatrics can be further developed as a NP. According to Schell et al. (2015), there is a need to have more NPs who can treat children which will help to address the shortage of nurse specialist in pediatrics. As a NP, Mary will perform skills that require high skill levels. Her previous experience in the surgery and emergency departments are conducive

Nursing starts as far back as the late 1700s when a, New York Physician, Valentine Seaman, organized a course of lectures for nurses who cared for maternity patients. An early nineteenth century program, the Nurse Society of Philadelphia (also referred to as the Nurse Charity of Philadelphia) trained women in caring for mothers during childbirth and postpartum period. (Jean C. Whelan) The founder, Dr. Joseph Warrington, a strong advocate for women interesting in pursing nursing as an occupation, authored a book. (paraphrase) (Jean C. Whelan) If you look at Health care in the 1800s is not what is today. There were no generally accepted body of knowledge so that rival theories circulated competitively. The year 1873 was a defining moment year in American history. In that year, three nursing educational programs began operations. As the centuries past, our understanding of the field of Nursing began to evolve into a legitimate school of thought.