Verified Document

Primary Care And Healthcare Research Paper

Advance Practice Registered Nurse (APRN) role of Family Nurse Practitioner The US is witnessing a growing demand for the services of primary care providers, owing to an increase in the nation's elderly population. With Obamacare's enactment in the year 2010, the above trend is predicted to persist in the course of the next many years. FNPs or Family Nurse Practitioners can help mitigate the forecasted dearth of primary care providers. Available literature on the subjects indicates that FNPs might be capable of delivering a subsection of services categorized under primary care better than, or at least, just as proficiently as, doctors. Increased NP employment can improve healthcare access, especially in generally underserved localities and communities. For furthering this, APRN stakeholder bodies and state nursing boards have endeavored to revolutionize and standardize FNP practice (National Governors Association, 2012).

APRN represents a broad term utilized for defining nursing practice which exhibits competencies that transcend RNs' conventional scope. Across the globe, interest in this profession has been spreading increasingly, demonstrated by the fact that as many as sixty nations have implemented these roles. FNPs, in the role of APRNs, may be described as RNs who have achieved the specialist knowledge base, clinical proficiencies for carrying out extended practice and compound decision making abilities, whose characteristics are governed by the nation and context of credentialing (Sangster-Gormley, Martin-Misener & Burge, 2013).

In simple terms, FNPs are RNs with advanced training. Except for performing surgeries, state laws authorize FNPs to deliver a large number of services identical to those delivered by doctors, such as illness diagnoses and treatment; minor trauma diagnosis and management; splinting and suturing; performance of pre-delivery, adult care and well child health checks; medication prescription; and patient education in matters of ailment prevention...

FNPs are expected to carry out the activities of diagnosing, prescribing and treating in every state in the country. However, different states have established different scopes for FNPs in terms of what services they can deliver and what treatment they can prescribe. In several states, FNPs are authorized to prescribe every kind of medication, even controlled drugs, while others bar FNPs from prescribing controlled drugs (Britt, 2012).
A number of state level FNP advocates have emphasized the attainment of professional independence, without doctor supervision. While the argument on autonomous nursing practice is a fierce one, raging since several decades, it is garnering increasing intensity, owing to the rise in demand for healthcare services for the swiftly aging Baby Boomer generation and individuals who will receive fresh insurance cover thanks to Obamacare. The increased patient load, together with the expected primary care physician dearth, has led to increased focus on how physician assistants and FNPs may fulfill primary care requirements. FNPs have reacted by asserting that although they cannot fully replace the traditional doctor, they are competent enough to deliver affordable, superior quality patient care. NPs with their background in nursing are able to effectively adopt a patient focused care strategy with admirable results. Furthermore, NPs belong to the local or larger healthcare team (Britt, 2012).

Wessel (2012) affirms that as an FNP, she received training for various practice settings such as primary care, management, education and research (2012). Such variety and flexibility makes them flourish and affords them the chance to participate in numerous stimulating public health ventures, whilst simultaneously having ample time to devote to family and society. FNPs' wide-ranging skill enables them to assume several roles within the nation's transforming health sector environment.

FNPs' biggest contribution to primary care represents that of practitioners who integrate diagnostic skills, clinical knowledge, and prescriptive power into education on lifestyle change and…

Sources used in this document:
References

Sangster-Gormley, E., Martin-Misener, R., & Burge, F. (2013). A case study of nurse practitioner role implementation in primary care: what happens when new roles are introduced? BMC nursing, 12(1), 1.

National Governors Association. (2012). The role of nurse practitioners in meeting increasing demand for primary care. Washington: National Governors Association.

Wessel, L. A. (2012). Nurse practitioners in community health settings today. Journal of health care for the poor and underserved, 16(1), 1-6.

Britt, D. (2012). Family nurse practitioner's role in primary care. Retrieved February 3, 2017, from http://source.southuniversity.edu/family-nurse-practitioners-role-in-primary-care-110820.aspx
Cite this Document:
Copy Bibliography Citation

Related Documents

Primary Care and Obesity
Words: 4658 Length: 20 Document Type: Capstone Project

Management of Obesity in Primary Care Settings The prevalence of obesity has reached epidemic levels in the United States and the human and economic toll of this condition is staggering. Besides the adverse effects that obesity has on quality of life in general, the condition is also highly correlated with a number of negative and expensive sequelae, including most especially diabetes and heart disease. While the research into the precise causes

Primary Care and Business
Words: 596 Length: 2 Document Type: Business Plan

Quality Care Clinic (QCC) will aid in meeting current health needs, improving access to care, and providing high quality patient-centered care for citizens in Carson City. QCC will offer efficient, safe, effective, timely, and unbiased primary care to patients from birth to end of life. The NPs of QCC have experience in primary care and emergency room settings and will offer increased patient satisfaction due to open communication, skills

Primary Care and Nurse
Words: 1249 Length: 2 Document Type: Research Paper

Halcomb, Peters, and Mclennes (2015) aims at examining pre-registration nurses' experiences in community clinic assignments as well as the effect such assignment has on their education. The authors have determined that clinical assignments to community facilities may offer nursing undergraduates important opportunities for learning. The research was conducted using a qualitative study design. The research work attempts at examining pre-registration nurses' experiences in community clinic assignments as well as the

Primary Care Clinic and Healthcare for Veterans
Words: 621 Length: 2 Document Type: Essay

Overview Working at the Primary Care Clinic at the Veterans’ Administration (VA), nurses are exposed to a range of diagnoses and patient care concerns. The experience helps evolve core competencies in a range of practice areas. The VA calls the Primary Care services “the foundation of VHA healthcare,” as well as the first point of contact with the VA healthcare system for most veterans,” (U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs,” 2016). Therefore,

Primary Care Nursing Model
Words: 1156 Length: 4 Document Type: Application Essay

Top Nursing Models to Consider Review and summarize two scholarly resources (not including your text) related to the nursing care model you observed in the practice setting. The first article reviewed for this assignment pertaining to the primary nursing care model is entitled “Implementation of a primary nursing model to optimize patient care and safety in an outpatient chemotherapy unit”. The authors discuss the incorporation of a primary nursing care model for

Primary Care and Nursing
Words: 1407 Length: 4 Document Type: Article Review

Nursing Practitioners In the United States and the United Kingdom, NP (Nursing practitioners) are being used as a point of contact to deliver primary care for patients. Trained nursing practitioners who can deliver in-person primary healthcare services for patients are gradually increasing. While patients provide positive feedback about the nursing roles, there is still a debate whether nursing practitioners can deliver a cost effectiveness for a patients' treatment compared with

Sign Up for Unlimited Study Help

Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.

Get Started Now