Advanced Practice Nurse
There are many people that find satisfaction in helping those who are in need. One of those professions is an advanced practice nurse whose job to check on the needs of many patients who are vulnerable and need critical attention. Unlike other medical staff, advanced practice nurse performs the role of an agent who contributes to the profession regarding knowledge and leadership as they enhance collaboration among the health care providers. This paper will discuss the role of an advanced practice nurse in today’s dynamic healthcare environment, the evolution of this job, the philosophy of leadership concerning this kind of job, and the servanthood nature of this work.
Evolution of Nursing
There are many different kinds of nurses, each specializing in areas of patient care, the main difference between an advanced practice nurse and a staff nurse will be discussed. To begin with, the advanced practice nurse’s role includes the ordering and performing of diagnostic tests including electrocardiograms. They treat acute illness and develop treatment plans for the patients as well as develop recommendations that help in modifying patients’ behaviors. In addition, the advanced practice nurse’s duty is to teach the patients to manage their chronic illness as well as give counseling services about possible side effects of the drugs they have been prescribed, so patients can avoid taking medications that may affect the effectiveness of treatment (Kaasalainen et al., 2010). Compared with an advanced practice nurse, staff nurses are mandated to keep track of the patient’s records and report to the doctors. They also help in directing and supervising of the other less skilled employees. In addition, they are required to give relevant information to the family members about the patient in matters about the patient’s condition. Therefore, the role of an advanced practice nurse is different from that of the staff nurse (“RN or Nurse Practitioner” 2017). A staff nurse is a general health worker whose task is to lend a hand to the doctors and provide care to the patients while an advanced practice nurse has an advanced role, for example, prescribing medication or other duties that would be asked by a doctor.
The profession of an advanced practice nurse has evolved over the years with the aim to offer the best services to clients in the healthcare industry from the time it gained widespread recognition. Before the Second World War, the expanded role of nurses was created to help in the provision of medical services in remote areas, in cases where the doctors were unavailable. In the period between 1960 and 1980, the Second World War resulted in an enormous lack of available medics. It necessitated the need for the medical profession to develop, particularly, educate and train the veteran nurses, so that they could be able to handle societal health needs such as tuberculosis (Kaasalainen et al., 2010). Due to this fact, the advanced practice nurse roles pushed to create nurse practitioner (NP) and incorporate this position into the medical field as a position for more skilled than staff nurses. Later, in the year the 1980s, various initiatives have been implemented at federal levels in support of the APN. For instance, in 1997 the Association of Registered Nurses of Newfoundland sought to utilize the services of APNs in the entire region as well as in the region of Labrador. Also in 1999, the Registered Nurses Association of Nova Scotia took the initiative of mainstreaming APN practitioners into the health system through a position paper that was supported by the Canadian Health Services Research Foundation (CHSRF) (Kaasalainen et al., 2010). In the present times, the APN does not perform the role in remote areas but an important employee in almost all the health centers and hospitals.
The development of personal leadership philosophy in APNs calls for the inculcation of virtues that aim at supporting life. My personal leadership philosophy is based on servanthood. I will utilize both inherent and acquired qualities to offer services to everyone at my workplace. So, the goal of my philosophy as an APN would be to provide the best services to the patients (O’Brien, 2011). I will be willing to seek leadership training, so as to upgrade my skills and fulfill my duties in a dynamic environment (Maxwell, 2005). The core values will include integrity, creativity, and empathy as these are key elements in caring for patients (Lanier, 2014). I think that nursing is a caring vocation and hence it is aimed at caring for all patients.
The duties of an APN involve helping sick people as well as assigning responsibilities to the staff nurses. So, the servanthood perception is very crucial since one is always required to put the needs of the patient first (O’Brien, 2011). Consequently, both patients and nurses will be satisfied with positive results.
Conclusion
Conclusively, the role of the APN is distinct from that of the staff nurse performs. The field of APN has undergone a transformation over the years, and this evolution has mainly been attributed to the emerging issue in society such as the world wars that have lowered the number of doctors. Leadership is one of the main duties the APN is in charge of, it is crucial to have a leadership philosophy that entails the development of the goal one aims to attain. Servanthood leadership calls upon individuals to deliver service and thus involves duties performed by the nursing profession.
References
Maxwell, J. (2005). Developing the leader within you (1st ed.). Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishing.
O’Brien, M. (2011). Servant leadership in nursing: spirituality and practice in contemporary health care (1st ed.). Jones and Bartlett.