Broadening the Scope of Nursing Practice, Essay Example

Introduction

Advanced practice nursing requires a high level of knowledge and skill to facilitate the desired outcomes and approaches to care and treatment. However, this field also requires a high level of support and acknowledgement of its role in community and social change for patients, particularly those in the highest risk areas. The value of advanced practice nursing is significant, as it supports an ongoing framework of change and progress that is designed to facilitate growth and opportunity for the healthcare field. Advanced practice nursing will facilitate a greater wave of knowledge and skill to assist patients from many different population groups in the areas of risk and prevention to improve health and wellbeing.

Analysis

Advanced practice nursing is associated with a high level of value because of its scope and the ability of nurses to provide for patients through expanded knowledge and programmatic efforts to achieve the desired outcomes (Lowe et.al, 2012). Nurses at this level are able to effectively communicate with a variety of patients regarding areas of concern that may include high-risk behaviors and access to care, all of which require a strong approach to address policies that are likely to alleviate some of most important health concerns that impact society (Lowe et.al, 2012). Therefore, organizations must place a higher value on advanced practice nursing as a precursor to social change and progress within the context of organizational change and progress (Lowe et.al, 2012). The development of a new framework to support change is essential to the discovery of new strategies for healthcare providers to address change and successful outcomes through the delivery of high quality care and treatment for all patients in need of care (Hickey & Brosnan, 2012).

There are considerable efforts required to facilitate new directions in advanced practice nursing over the next five years, including the scope of practice and the expansion of knowledge to facilitate desirable outcomes for patients (Hickey & Brosnan, 2012). In the next half decade, nurses must be able to recognize their role in shaping outcomes and in developing new strategies for growth that encompass a wide variety of perspectives to ensure that nursing-based objectives are met in newer areas, such as evidence-based medicine and other areas where value is added to improve patient health and wellbeing (Fairman et.al, 2011). In this context, nurses require a high level of support and understanding of their roles and responsibilities to their patients through an expanded focus on quality in the delivery of care (Fairman et.al, 2011). Best practice solutions for nurses must include a higher level of focus on the delivery of care, along with an emphasis on new directions that support innovation and growth within practice settings (Melnyk & Fineout-Overholt, 2011). These alternatives provide a means of expanding knowledge to promote greater delivery of care, along with a means of promoting new directions for change that will encompass greater quality and support in meeting the desired objectives of practice settings to alleviate social burdens (Melnyk & Fineout-Overholt, 2011).

Conclusion

Advanced practice nursing over the next five years requires a high level of understanding, acceptance, and support of innovative practices, evidence-based solutions, and other directives to able ensure that nurses are able to maximize the quality of care that they provide on a continuous basis. This process also demonstrates an important focus on the creation of value within advanced practice nursing to accompany social change and improved health for those populations with the greatest level of need and who require a significant level of growth in this area.

References

Fairman, J. A., Rowe, J. W., Hassmiller, S., & Shalala, D. E. (2011). Broadening the scope of nursing practice. New England Journal of Medicine, 364(3), 193-196.

Hickey, J. V., & Brosnan, C. A. (2012). Evaluation of Health Care Quality in Advanced Practice Nursing. Springer Publishing Company.

Lowe, G., Plummer, V., O’Brien, A. P., & Boyd, L. (2012). Time to clarify–the value of advanced practice nursing roles in health care. Journal of advanced nursing, 68(3), 677-685.

Melnyk, B. M., & Fineout-Overholt, E. (Eds.). (2011). Evidence-based practice in nursing & healthcare: A guide to best practice. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.