Advanced Practice Nursing Role Essay

Health professionals like nurses have a chance to go for autonomy in the nursing career which is beyond the practice of being a staff nurse. Various pathways for advanced specialization in nursing career have been established for the past few decades. This expansion of responsibilities and vision as a health professional helps nurses to fulfill growth as professional and as a person. Among the advanced practice nursing roles, the author deeply prefer Family Nurse Practitioner specialized in cardiology. This will help her utilize skills in nursing science and as a health care specialist with a twist on promotion of health of the cardiovascular system. Creative APN Role in Health Promotion The author has chosen the field of family nursing practitioner because of the challenges and roles that it holds. The current responsibilities of the family nurse practitioner posts promising personal as well as professional growth on the field of the health care industry. The advance practice nursing role of family nurse practitioner is composed of different skills which pertains to the areas of management skills of community health nursing, patient care, primary care, intervention on the desired population, and it also deals with community assessment and actions regarding the said assessment. It focuses on promotion of health and healthy living, avoidance of degenerative diseases, and the supervision of the illnesses in different ages, both chronic and acute. (UTA 2008) The author has chosen a specialized field in cardiology because in reference to the data given by the Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention for 2005 Death data table C, the leading cause of death in the United States is cardiovascular related. According to the statistics, 652, 091 deaths were related to heart problems (CDC 2008). The stated data poses a major concern that there is a very big problem related to cardiovascular disorders. In relation to this, the author envisions to help in solving this problem via the career chosen by the author. The family practice nursing with a specialization in cardiology will help the author contribute in building the foundations of a society with healthy cardio vascular systems. Among the probable setting that the author hopes to practice the stated advanced practice nursing role is in the Christ Hospital. It was established for more than 115 years and it was well known to be one of the leading hospitals which continue to promote, plan and innovate for the healthy future of the region. It was noted as one of the best medical institution in the United States for the last few decades consistently. The setting includes 555 beds with more than 1200 physicians and holds the most advanced and sophisticated technology for health care. It is a not-for-profit acute care facility which is supervised by the highly trained specialists that has great passion for health care. It focuses on the services for major surgery, orthopedics, cardiovascular care and other related fields (Christ Hospital 2008). The competencies required for this job ranges from clinical expertise to social relationship within the community. It requires expertise in retrieving records for the data regarding the health, medical history, psychosocial and family records. Ability to conduct physical examination, for the health problems related to the acute and episodic phases are required as well as the ability to interpret the laboratory findings. Provide health assessment to the visited areas or patients and to arrange referrals to other health professional. It is also required to have a knowledge on developing and implementing plans for the supervision of problems in the acute and episodic problems of the assessed in and out patients. In the competencies required to assess patients also include ability to enclose screening evaluation for the cardiovascular health and other relevant information regarding it, distinguishes between normal and abnormal change. Evaluate the pressure of the family or psychosocial factors on patient sickness, situations related to developmental delays and learning disabilities in all ages, reproductive health of both women and men, sexual health, pregnancy, and postpartum care, assess some problems like substance abuse like drugs. Performs and accurately documents appropriate comprehensive or symptom-focused physical assessment on patients of all ages. Recognize health and cardiovascular risk factors of patients of all ages and families in all stages of the family life cycle. Demonstrates proficiency in family assessment; show proficiency in functional assessment of family members. Assesses specific family health needs within the context of community assessment especially the ones that is related to the cardiovascular diseases. Identifies and plans interventions to promote health with families at risk of heart disease (NONPF 2002). Diagnosing of health status focused on the health of heart is also needed, the following competencies are required. Recognize signs and symptoms of acute physical heart disease across the life span. Recognize signs and symptoms of chronic cardiovascular disease across the life span. Evaluates and summarizes collected data for patients of all ages. Plans complete differential diagnoses, with relevance to the epidemiology, environmental and community characteristics, this also includes life stage development and the arrangement seen with increasing age, family, and heart risk factors (NONPF 2002). Upon diagnosis of the members with cardiovascular or heart related diseases. The planning caring and management of the treatment of the disease will proceed which requires a lot of competencies indicated below. It is required for the nurse to have abilities to provide health information for protection, health promotion, formulate strategies for the intervention and prevention of the cardiovascular diseases which aims in improving the cardiovascular system of the family, requires a knowledge on how to treat acute and chronic of cardiovascular diseases in all ages to minimize the risk of developing complications and increase quality of living, prescribe proper medication for the pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics, adapts care for to meet the needs of the at-risk patients, evaluate the effectiveness of the plan in relation to the plans made for the at-risk group. Assist the members of the family of the cardiovascular disorder patient, provide referrals to the health care professionals that can support the treatment of the heart disease, and apply the study regarding the idea that is family centered and can supply positive change in the health of the family. Family or Population Health Promotion Theories & Models The family nurse practitioner specialized in the cardiology focuses on promoting health in relation to individual level and the family level. The health promotion theory that is suitable for the family nurse practitioner in the individual level is the Health Belief Model which focuses on the person’s perception of the possible risk and the evaluation of the actions that would prevent the problem from occurring again. In this case, the author’s future interaction with individuals who are at-risk to cardiovascular diseases will give her chance to use the said model in promoting the health information. Upon approaching, an at-risk patient, the author will be discussing the perceived susceptibility of the subject to cardiovascular diseases and the initial reaction of the patient will more likely to be curios. The next part is the explanation of the perceived severity and the possible consequences of the CVD in the patient; the next step is to discuss with the patient the possible benefits of positive action. In such case, the patient will soon realize the benefits of the perceived action. And will arrive eventually on the conclusion that the patient should consider on performing the perceived actions that could give benefits. The author also considers another theory of which the community level is involved. The community organization is theory which focuses the involvement of the members of the community in evaluating health problems. Upon interaction within community sites, the author will soon be empowering these families in relation to the participation in campaigns for heart related problems. The participation of the community and the relevance of the selected issue to the problem of the community like the cardiovascular diseases will greatly enhance the active development of the community. The most important activity that the author can do is the critical consciousness that she will be spreading in the community (HPA 2008). Agency and Financing of APN Practice The Christ Hospital will be the institution where the author hopes to apply in the mere future it was the medical establishment that was considered in this paper. It was established for more than 115 years and it was well known to be one of the leading hospitals which continue to promote, plan and innovate for the healthy future of the region. It was noted as one of the best medical institution in the United States for the last few decades consistently. The setting includes 555 beds with more than 1200 physicians and holds the most advanced and sophisticated technology for health care. It is a not-for-profit acute care facility which is supervised by the highly trained specialists that has great passion for health care. It focuses on the services for major surgery, orthopedics, cardiovascular care and other related fields (Christ Hospital 2008). The mission of the Christ Hospital is to lead the region in giving the excellent experience in health care especially the personalized one while forwarding clinical excellence, technology and education. The role that the author will be holding will help the institution in a way of providing personalized health care especially in the cardiology patients. The author’s expertise will also help the institution in advancing clinical excellence especially in the field of cardiology. The role will be financially supported by the hospital or allied services institutions relating to cardiology. In the specific case, the Christ Hospital will be responsible for the financial support of the role. The nurse practitioner in the said institution is included in the employee pay. Some stakeholders that can support the role are the health related institutions, hospitals, clinics, nurse organizations and cardiology specialty centers. The role of family practice nurse practitioner goes beyond the limits of a staff nurse which will promote personal and professional growth. The specialization in cardiology will greatly help in the regression of cardiovascular disease cases in the United States. Thus the APN role stated above will surely benefit not only the author but also the society at large.