APN: Advanced Practice Nursing

APN: Advanced Practice Nursing

Why is there a need for advanced practice nurses (APNs)? The last quarter of the 20th century taught that detection, prevention, promotion, early intervention and education are not only cost-effective but also rational. They are ideally suited to deliver this type of health care.

Advanced practice nursing entails masteral or doctorate preparedness of nurses. Critical reflective thinking, self-directed learning and leadership skills are expectations for health-care providers in the 21st century. Therefore, this branch of nursing builds on the foundation of professional nursing practice and responds to the health care needs of the country.

Are APN’s contributions unique, valuable and can be evaluated? Let us take a look at the following examples:

• Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS): In a hospital, the CNS must be able to identify how performance contributes to the patient-focused mission and goals of the organization. Does the CNS’s practice reduce length of stay, improve patient outcomes or enhance the efficiency of staff nurses?

• Certified Nurse Midwife (CNM): The CNM’s ability to better meet patient needs, or to provide services to groups of patients at a lower cost than services provided by physicians, should be measurable.

• Nurse Practitioner (NP): In an outpatient setting, the NP would need to document both the quality and quantity of services provided to patients and the ability to reduce hospitalization rates.

• Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist(CRNA): In evaluating anesthesia services in a chronic low back pain clinic, the CRNA would want to clearly document quality of service and patient outcomes.

Nursing Myths: Fact or Fiction

Nursing myths exist. Here are some myths and the truth behind them.

Male nurses aren’t welcome in the nursing profession: It is completely false. Though admittedly there is that perceived notion that nurses should be female, there is a growing number of male nurses joining the nursing field. Right now male nurses account for 6 percent of the nursing population. Discriminative policies like prohibition of male nurses from assisting in oncology cases are slowly being corrected. Male nurses have every opportunity for career advancement like their female counterparts.

Nursing needs years of study: Not completely accurate. Depending on which nursing course one enrolls, some only take one to two years to finish. Due to the shortage of nurses, courses were shorten and fast tracked. Licensed Practical Nurses (LPN) need only a 1 year course while Diploma in Nursing courses need two years. Bachelors Degree in Nursing needs 4 years but graduates of these course get higher salaries compared to the other two mentioned nursing courses.

Nursing is boring and has not much career advancement opportunities: completely inaccurate. The fact is nursing is one field where career advancement is most available and plentiful. If one is a registered nurse, they can choose to continue in advance studies for specialization in different nursing fields. Nurse Midwifery, Geriatric Nursing, Critical Care Nursing are some of the specialized nursing field.

Doctors will always be more prestigious than nurses: False. Advance Registered Nurses who specialize in different nursing fields can now do some things only doctors used to be able to do. A Nurse Practitioners can now diagnose patients and open clinics. There are nurses who are licensed to do anesthesiology. Surgical Nurses are given equal footing during surgical operations as with doctors.

Nursing is profession for everyone. As long as you have the heart to care for your patients no matter who they are and what sickness they have, nurses have their own unique contributions to the field of medicine.

Becoming a Nurse – LPN or RN

The field of nursing is promising if you want to find a job that pays well. There is a shortage of nurses and as the population grows, the need for more and more nurses will continue to rise thereby ensuring you can find a job with ease.

How does one become a nurse? One can either take nursing courses in becoming a licensed practical nurse (LPN) or a registered nurse (RN). If you want a fast course then take a licensed practical nursing course. Usually these courses can be finished within a year. Registered nurses take more time to finish usually up to four years. But before one can obtain a license to practice nursing, one has to take a nursing exam called NCLEX. These exams are usually administered twice a year in the USA and its territories like Guam. More recently Mexico and the Philippines were granted the right to hold these exams.

What do you learn in nursing courses? They teach you anatomy, physiology, pharmacology, psychology, medical ethics, nursing theory and legal matters pertaining to nursing. Clinical training is an important part in the road to nursing. Nursing students are required to apprentice in hospitals and clinics under strict supervision to insure what they do is correct.

Registered nurses usually earn much more than licensed practical nurses due to the broader nursing knowledge they acquired during college. Specialist registered nurses are the ones who get the best salaries but they need to do additional studies before they can be certified in their field of specialization.

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