Advanced nursing practice has several specializations. First is the nurse practitioner. A nurse practitioner plays an integral role in enhancing access of many clients and patients to immediate health care. It is common that units in hospitals have designated nurse practitioners to be consulted when physicians are not readily available. Nurse practitioners have the competence of diagnosing and prescribing orders and medications for patients who …show more content…
have acute and chronic diseases. They assess, diagnose, treat, monitor and work collaboratively with other health care providers like frontline nurses, doctors and allied health care workers in taking care of the patients so that they can return back to their optimum health.
The second specialization is nursing leadership and management.
In this field, the focus is managing and leading an organization comprised of nurses so they can operate cohesively and efficiently. It involves planning, organizing, directing, controlling, budgeting, staffing, and ensuring the highest level of care provided to clients/ patients. Additionally, it also involves disciplining personnel to maintain premier level of practice for accountability at workplace.
The third specialization is nursing education. The concentration on this area is educating and teaching students in the academe as they pursue their degree in nursing, either in the undergraduate level or post graduate level and even doctorate studies level. As well, they can be nurse educators in patient care units who provide continuous training and education for licensed practical nurses and registered nurses who work at bedside. They conduct classes are necessary to edify the current knowledge and practice of frontline nurses to make sure that best practice is
maintained.
The fourth concentration of advanced nursing practice is nursing research. Research is a specialized field of nursing that focuses on studying the evidences to see if the current interventions performed are still effective and are best for each situation. It involves studies using qualitative, quantitative, or mixed methodologies of research to increase the knowledge and appreciation on the science and rationale of each intervention. They write scholarly articles and circulate publications regarding their research so that nursing continuum can keep abreast with the latest advances in science and technology.
Nowadays, nurses’ roles have progressively evolved throughout many years as demands in health care continue to escalate. Patients and clients have increasingly become knowledgeable about their care as health information is just at their fingertips and this demands nurses to become on top of their practice. With this respect, frontline nurses must be guided and directed by advanced practice nurses in meeting these exigencies and challenges. This can be accomplished by the support of advanced practice registered nurses who can implement innovative concepts and look into the arising trends to be able to meet the health care demands.
In conclusion, advance nursing practice plays a critical role in the scope of nursing profession. The expertise of nurses who advanced their nursing education and practice is highly essential to keep the field of nursing competent, organized, systematized and proficient. The success in our day to day interactions with clients and patients is greatly influenced by the expertise of the advanced practice registered nurses who dedicate their time and effort to study, research and pursue education so that they can deal with the demands of the work place, patient conditions, nursing trends and frontline nurses efficiently and effectively.