In nursing, the role of a care provider comprises a collection of core aptitudes pertaining to his or her specialization of work. If the advanced roles of direct care provider and indirect care provider are compared, there would be a wide range of similarities as well as differences in their fundamental aptitudes as per specializations (UTC, 2015). To further show the contrast of core competencies relevant to the Nova Southeastern University College of Nursing and Public Health, in this paper the following specializations were analyzed: Nurse Informaticist as an example of an indirect care provider role, and an Adult Nurse Practitioner (NP) would represent the category of direct care provider.
A Nurse Informaticist (NI) works as an indirect health care contributor, whose work combines the use of “Data, Information, Knowledge and Wisdom” and plays a vital role in healthcare, which reflects on the specific core competencies of this specialization. The main competencies of a Nurse Informaticist are listed by the American Nurses Association as ability to operate computer, literacy in information technology and leadership and skill development (ANA, 2008). These competencies define the role of a Nurse Informaticist as a modern, technology-oriented indirect healthcare provider, who utilizes information and technology to better communicate, manage information, predict and mitigate error, and assist in decision making. The vast array of possible implementations of the core competencies, justify the wide variety of roles the Nurse Informaticist plays in Practice, Industry, Education and Government (Clancy, 2015). Implementation of the above listed NI’s competencies is regulated by several license-backed evaluations, standardized assessments and training courses as well as the NI curriculum.
Promotion of health awareness, safeguard, prevention and treatment of diseases, relationship between nurse and the patient, coaching and role of professional nurse, administrative and managerial work in healthcare system, monitoring for ensuring best quality of services comprise the basic aptitudes required by professional nurse (AACN, 2012). The Nurse Practitioner is a direct health care provider, specialized in providing high-quality healthcare services in clinics, offices, managed care organizations, rural and urban health centers as well as long term care facilities. Implementation of the core competencies of a Nurse Practitioner requires well-rounded clinical practice, focused on current health issues and consists of the existing adult care NP curriculum, license to practice accreditation, standardized assessments and specialized training courses (NONPF, 2014).
The basic virtues of a direct (NP) and indirect (NI) contributor in nursing have resemblances and variations as well. The similarities include leadership and professional development competencies, which are a necessity for healthcare professionals. Differences are dependent on the field of expertise and role requirements. For the NP, the core competencies are derived from future clinically focused skill implementation. For the NI, the core competencies reflect the vast applicability of skills and knowledge of this indirect care provider.
A brief review of the essential virtues of indirect and direct care contributors in nursing can help in comparing the virtues in implementation of different specialized roles. Resemblances include standardized curriculums and minimal requirements mandated by healthcare institutions, as well as standardized academic assessment programs and role-oriented training programs. These methods of core competencies applications are common for a majority of care provider roles. The differences in implementation of competencies are notably dependent on the role of the care provider. A Nurse Informacist’s role is focused on modern information and technology oriented labour, thus the implementations consist of IT and computer training as well as modernization dependent practices, while a Nurse Practitioner’s role is centered on clinical performance, hence the implementations vary from that of a NI: clinical training, patient relationship courses, team-building exercises and other socially and clinically directed proficiency programs (NONPF, 2013).
Reference:
ANA (2008). Nursing Informatics: Scope and Standards of Practice, 2nd Edition.
Retrieved from http://www.aacn.nche.edu/qsen-informatics/2012-workshop/presentations/troseth/Roles,_Competencies,_Skills.pdf
Clancy (2015). Informatics and Technology: Emerging Trends and QSEN Competencies. Retrieved from http://www.nursing.umn.edu/prod/groups/nurs/@pub/@nurs/documents/content/nurs_content_500673.pdf
AACN (2012). Adult-Gerontology Acute Care Nurse Practitioner Competencies.
Retrieved fromhttp://c.ymcdn.com/sites/www.nonpf.org/resource/resmgr/competencies/adult-geroaccompsfinal2012.pdf
NONPF (2014). Nurse Practitioner Core Competencies Content: A delineation of suggested content specific to the NP core competencies.
Retrieved from http://c.ymcdn.com/sites/nonpf.site-ym.com/resource/resmgr/Competencies/NPCoreCompsContentFinalNov20.pdf
NONPF (2013). Population-Focused Nurse Practitioner Competencies.
Retrieved from http://c.ymcdn.com/sites/www.nonpf.org/resource/resmgr/Competencies/CompilationPopFocusComps2013.pdf
UTC, Practice Roles, Doctor of Nursing Practice, retrieved on December 31, 2015 from <http://www.utc.edu/nursing/dnp/practice-roles.php>
