The Role of the Advanced Practice Nurse Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

The Role of the Advanced Practice Nurse - Essay Example The complexity of the contemporary healthcare environment has significantly changed and the role of nurses has also continued to change due to increased technology advancement. The access to healthcare delivery and nurses offering these services are changing rapidly due to increased demanding needs; therefore, each state is attempting to deal with these increasing healthcare changes through expanding and advancing the roles of nurses. Educators are now required to offer effective training services to graduates in order to prepare them with clear understanding of the Advanced Practice Nurse (APN) roles. APN refers as the nursing interventions that influence healthcare outcomes such as care management, nursing administration, direct clinical care of individual patients and development of healthcare policies. Understanding APN roles, professional and regulatory issues will enable nurses to make reasonable transition in the healthcare market. Educators should employ effective approaches for building APN role content into graduate course units since this can enable nurses to their intended goals effectively. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to offer clear analysis of the roles being played by advanced practice nurses in the contemporary healthcare market. Core APN competencies The core competencies for APN nursing roles arise from role requirements, nursing regulations, nursing principles and practices, as well as, professional behavior standards necessary to offer competent, ethical and safe care. These core competencies offer the basis through which practitioners, human resource managers and educators can determine the acceptance level necessary for practicing in APN role in a certain situational context. The core competences address two significant elements including the professional development and the clinical practice both of which are significant for the APN role to attain the acceptable nursing standards and practices. a) Clinical Practice Competencies Practice core competencies are among the significant APN roles and this includes participating in direct patient care. This is an essential part of clinical practice because it adequately fulfills the role of nursing practitioner. Hamric and Hanson (2003) argue that direct clinical practice is one of the central competencies for APN because it informs and offers a foundation for which to build pillars for expert coaching. It also provides a basis for collaboration, research and ethical decision making vital for meeting the demanding needs of patients. Scholars have attempted to examine critical roles played by APN and the way these roles have tremendously changed in the contemporary healthcare market (Hamric and Hanson, 2003). Th e authors also attempts to offer clear and comprehensive roles of APN nurses in the contemporary society. Nurses employ applicable counseling, interpersonal skills and valuable communication skills; thus they initiate therapeutic relationships. They also work in collaboration with other healthcare professions and employ effective ethical standards in order to meet the demanding needs of their clients. b) Professional Development Competencies The professional development competencies are also significant APN roles because they help individuals to accomplish and maintain the level of proficiencies necessary to practice. They focus on the role of individuals in self governance of their occupation practice and personal development. According to Hamric and Hanson (2003), professional role development takes into considerations the theoretical principles and norms within the specialty practice area for nursing graduates. The content in professional role development should offer the graduat e with clear understandings of nursing profession, regulations, necessary requirements for nurses and APN roles (Hamric and Hanso