APN Competencies Essay Discussion
APN Competencies Essay Discussion
APN role concepts and role development issues
Advanced practice nursing (APN) has emerged globally in response to the necessity to improve services and outcomes for patients, decrease wait times, improve access to care and contain the cost of health care. According to Hu and Forgeron (2018), APN encompasses several APN roles that provide direct care to patients and families. There has been the expansion of APN roles in scope of practice and numbers over the last numerous decades with high valued being placed on the APN role as an essential part of the health care system. Because APN is beneficial in meeting the future and current patients’ health needs, there is the need to effectively identify the concept of the APN and the role’s components so as to continue expanding patient access to APN care while ensuring patient safety. APN Competencies Essay Discussion
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According to the International Council of Nurses, an APN role is a registered nurse with complex decision-making skills, clinical competencies for expanded practice, and an expert knowledge base, with these characteristics being shaped by the country or/ and context in which he/ she is credentialed to practice. Nevertheless, international consensus still lacks regarding APN minimum educational preparation, protection of title for numerous APN roles, accreditation system, the scope of practice, and education, and system for evaluating performance (Hu & Forgeron, 2018)APN Competencies Essay Discussion.
Despite endeavors to attain conceptual clarity, APN continue residing in a liminal space, incapable of securing continuing recognition as a feasible scheme of healthcare delivery. There lacks a clear agreement regarding the concept of APN. Jakimowicz et al. (2017) posit that efforts to elucidate this ambiguity have focused on nomenclature, domains, and scope of practice. This ambiguity has restrained the transition to unqualified recognition, wedging APN in a liminal room with small scope for expansion and recognition. This is particularly manifested in general practice, where APN role development is more fluid and usually receives less support from the hierarchical structures in the hospital system APN Competencies Essay Discussion.
Specific examples of role development issuesRole conflict and role ambiguity are examples of APN role development issues. role conflict, which is the simultaneous appearance of two or more irreconcilable expectations of a person’s behavior, is frequently present in the APN role. This is particularly apparent because of the many competencies and multifaceted roles APNs are expected to complete. For instance, the clinical manager and members of the multidisciplinary team might expect the advanced practice nurse in endocrinology to organize education sessions for patients suffering from adrenal insufficiency and to operate everyday nurse-led clinics, and concurrently, the chief nurse might expect the nurse to carry out research activities and projects as a apportion of her job description. The inability to conform to both expectations concurrently makes the APN find herself in a role conflict (Llahana et al., 2019)APN Competencies Essay Discussion.
Role ambiguity is among the biggest challenges APNs as it occurs due to lack of clarity of role expectations. Llahana et al. (2019) posit that when there is not much information available on expected performance or the normative expectations for the role are unclear, ill-defined, or vague, the occupant of the APN role might experience role strain. Examples of sources of role ambiguity for APNs include conflicting role expectations of staff and administrators, insufficient development to the role, inadequately described job qualifications, inconsistent job descriptions, multiple accountabilities, and unclear evaluation criteria. Similar to role conflict, role ambiguity, although harmful to the incumbent APNs’ role performance when extended, offers the opportunity for creativity in the role making and within the role. Great progress has been made in the last two decades concerning structure, clarification, and continuous definition of the APN role.
References
Hu, J., & Forgeron, P. (2018). Thinking, educating, acting: Developing advanced practice nursing. International Journal of Nursing Sciences, 5(2), 99-100. doi: 10.1016/j.ijnss.2018.04.006
Jakimowicz, M., Williams, D., & Stankiewicz, G. (2017). A systematic review of advanced practice nursing in general practice. BMC Nursing, 16, 6. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12912-016-0198-7
Llahana, S., Follin, C., & Yedinak, C. (2019). Advanced Practice in Endocrinology. Springer APN Competencies Essay Discussion