Advanced Practice Roles in Long Term Care

Final Paper - Advanced Practice Roles in Long Term Care

Advanced Practice Roles in Long Term Care

The evolving needs of patients and the growing complexity of health care delivery models have generated a demand for several specialized health care professionals, comprising Advanced Practice Nurses (APNs). APNs have an essential role, holding a wide range of executive and managerial positions that significantly influence the health care industry. These specialized health care professionals have expanded the alternatives for health service delivery, as well as facilitating the development of more pathways to healthcare careers and leadership opportunities for nurses. It should be noted that APNs are made up of nurse practitioners, nurse administrators, nurse educators, or nurse informaticists. Each APN performs a distinctive role; however, their responsibilities may intersect in some areas. Guided by fundamental skills and an understanding of the connection between education, experience, and patient outcomes, each APN plays a crucial part in the healthcare context. The purpose of this paper is to review all APN roles and then look at my specialty, including the core competencies, certification requirements, scope of practice, and legal aspects for this particular position. The paper will also discuss the practice environment, population, and colleague health care professionals I will be working with, as well as the future leadership role and contribution to professional organizations.

Advanced Practice Roles in Nursing

To understand the advanced practice roles in nursing, it is essential to first distinguish between Advanced Nursing Practice (ANP) and Advanced Practice Nursing (APN). ANP refers to nursing roles such as nurse administrators, nurse educators, and nurse informaticists (Hamric et al., 2014). On the other hand, APN denotes the clinical proficiencies for extended nursing practice, which are based on the environment and/or state in which one is approved to practice (Stanik-Hutt et al., 2013). APN differ from ANP in that it includes all nurses with a master's degree, who also falls in advanced nursing practice. Indeed, all advanced practice roles are based on various core values – advocating for patients, taking a holistic perspective of individuals, respecting the values and decisions of patients, as well as focusing on health promotion, health recovery, and disease prevention (Hamric et al., 2014). The advanced nursing practice prepares the nurses for various roles, including nurse practitioners (NP), Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS), Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist (CRNA), and Certified Nurse-Midwife (CNM). All these APNs must have graduate-level education and be ready to carry out numerous duties across the health wellness-illness field; nevertheless, each role may differ based on the implementation of the services.

The NP is an advanced practice registered nurse who works autonomously or may collaborate with other healthcare professionals to offer patient-centered care (Hamric et al., 2014). Given the broad roles of NPs, their roles can be considered as clinical. They provide services such as healthcare education, prescription of medicines, performing assessments and lab tests, interpreting lab results, diagnosing acute and chronic health conditions, and managing health problems.

The CNS is also an advanced practice nurse whose roles and competencies focus on – the management of complex and vulnerable populations, enhancement of clinical abilities in nursing staff, and the promotion of innovation and change in healthcare provision systems (Hamric et al., 2014). As NP, the CNS provides direct care services such as disease prevention and management, health promotion, diagnosing illness, as well as supervision and treatment for patients, their families, colleagues, and students.

The CNM is an advanced practice nurse that offers primary care services to women across all stages. Not only do they attend to women during pregnancy, childbirth, and post-natal, but they are also responsible for offering services such as family planning, gynecological examinations, lactation services, and education regarding sexual and reproductive health (Hamric et al., 2014). The CNM provides care in homes, hospital contexts, private facilities, and public health organizations.

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