The Role of Nurse Practitioners in the Future
SECTION A (1.5 pages)
The Demand for Healthcare in the U.S. and the Role of the NP
The role and scope of practice of the NP is ever changing, particularly in our contemporary U.S.
Healthcare system. Evaluate the impact of public demand for healthcare in the U.S. and the
impact this has on the changing scope of practice and the role of the NP.
Include a reference list at the end of this section (4 references minimum).
SECTION B (1.5 pages)
Sustainable Practice for the NP
How might the NP establish a sustainable practice in our contemporary U.S. Healthcare system?
Identify components to take into consideration and appraise the impact of these components on
the development of a sustainable practice.
The Role of Nurse Practitioners in the Future
SECTION A
Nurse practitioners have existed and provided services in healthcare for over 40 years.
These NP have become essential in primary healthcare delivery system. NP are expected to
have masters, advanced practice registered nurses possessing advanced academic and clinical
experiences that enable them to provide care to various populations.
THE ROLE OF NURSE PRACTITIONERS IN THE FUTURE 2
The services of NP have widened even as the nurses shortage looms. Healthcare in US
face a NP shortage if adequate measures are not taken. The number of NP available in healthcare
facility has continued to reduce as the number of patients increases. This therefore leaves a gap
that requires immediate addressed (Yang, 2014). Demand of healthcare is high especially with
these amendments of healthcare policies such as the coming into place of this Affordable Health
Care Act of 2010. Many people are now able to access medical care (Yang, 2014).
NP plays various roles in healthcare. They provide primary and acute care to patients in
need. They as well contribute in offering a comprehensive healthcare and as well emphasize
overall health and wellness of patients. Nurse practitioners provide this healthcare to all patients
of all ages. They can work on their own as well as collaboratively with healthcare teams.
The Nurse practitioners provide other services such as physical examination, diagnosis
services as well as treatment to patients that suffer from acute and chronic problems. They have
the skill to interpret laboratory results, x-rays and even prescribe medication as well as manage
various patients’ conditions and therapies (Mayo clinic, 2014). They as well teach and counsel
and offer supported healthy lifestyle behaviors to patients on prevention of diseases. They as
well can refer patients to other qualified and specialized health professionals for medication.
They help to promote equality and fairness in healthcare service provision. They render
high quality, and cost effective individualized care to patients, communities as well as families.
Even as the role and scope of NP continues to change, healthcare in US has to ensure that the
public demand for healthcare is met (Institute of Medicine (U.S.) & Robert Wood Johnson
Foundation, 2011). They must ensure that these nurses receive sufficient education, are a
credited and posted to deliver quality healthcare. They also should provide grants to encourage
people to join the professional to reduce the gap between the providers and the patients. This has
as well some impacts on the changing scope of practice and the role of NP. One impact is that it
will lead to poor quality healthcare, as nurses will be few and overstretched. Training of nurse
will equip them with skill improving quality. Nurses are also expected to have knowledge in
informatics to provide better services (Edelstein, 2013). This will require training in these areas
to equip them with these skills.
THE ROLE OF NURSE PRACTITIONERS IN THE FUTURE 3
References
Edelstein, P. (2013). Emerging directions in analytics: predictive analytics will play an
indispensable role in healthcare transformation and reform. In: Health Management
Technology, 34(1): 1-16.
THE ROLE OF NURSE PRACTITIONERS IN THE FUTURE 4
Institute of Medicine (U.S.)., & Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. (2011). The future of
nursing: Leading change, advancing health. Washington, D.C: National Academies
Press.
Mayo clinic. (2014). Nurse Practitioner. Retrieved from:
http://www.mayo.edu/mshs/careers/nurse-practitioner
Yang, Y. (2014). Care Coordination and the Expansion of Nursing Scopes of Practice. Journal of
Law, Medicine & Ethics, 42:93-105.
SECTION B
NP plays a key role in healthcare delivery and therefore require support from the
government to enhance their service delivery. NPs have a duty to establish a sustainable practice
in the contemporary US healthcare system. They should take the leading role to meet the
Institute of medicine recommendations to remain competitive. They should be committed to
delivering of high quality healthcare to their patients in their environment. They should as well
THE ROLE OF NURSE PRACTITIONERS IN THE FUTURE 5
ensure that they pursue higher education to get masters and doctorate degrees to become
proficient. This is important, as they will be required to deliver healthcare to the ever-increasing
population (Institute of medicine, 2014). It is through higher training that these nurses can be
able to remain competent and address the ever-changing health issues in the society (Yang,
2014). Training is also very important in this age of technological advancement. Healthcare
nowadays has embraced technology and informatics in delivery of healthcare. Therefore, they
must be trained in this area to equip themselves with these skills to be in a position to provide
superb healthcare to their customers.
To achieve this sustainability it is important that various components are taken into
consideration. These components include availability of nurses, the attitude of the nurses, the
availability of finance to support the training, availability of the training institutions and
professionals, demand of the healthcare among many others (Institute of medicine, 2014). For
instance, it is important to determine whether credible institutions are in place to provide these
training services to these nurses. If these are not in place, it becomes important to ensure that
they are put in place at the commencement of training. The demand of the healthcare facility
should as well be considered to determine the number of new enrolment.
These components impact on the development of a sustainable practice. If of nurses are
few, they work under a lot of pressure and these compromises on the quality of care. Many of
them may not be able to provide quality healthcare while others may opt to move to other careers
(Yang, 2014). The work done should consummate with the amount of pay. NP should be well
paid to motivate them to work hard. Availability or absence of training centers and professionals
will also affect the quality of training. Many of the nurses may not be enrolled in the facility or
those that enroll and fail to get high quality training will negatively affect delivery of quality
healthcare.
It is therefore important to ensure that initiatives are in place to sustain NP. They play
key role in promoting of healthcare and their services cannot be ignored even for a single second.
The government must therefore work closely with them to provide them with assistance to
ensure they remain committed to their duty.
THE ROLE OF NURSE PRACTITIONERS IN THE FUTURE 6
References
Bourgeois, S et al., (2014). Nurse practitioner work: A case study. Contemporary Nurse: A
Journal for the Australian Nursing Profession, 47 (1/2):p61-68.
THE ROLE OF NURSE PRACTITIONERS IN THE FUTURE 7
Institute of medicine. (2014). The future of nursing: Leading change, Adnancing helath,
Yang, Y. (2014). Care Coordination and the Expansion of Nursing Scopes of Practice. Journal of
Law, Medicine & Ethics, 42:93-105.