Over the years, the nursing profession has undergone various changes that have expanded as well as reshaped the concept of nursing. The evolution of the nurses’ roles have subsequently led to changes in the scope of practice. For instance, most of the current nursing functions were initially within the domain of medicine and other related disciplines (Barker, 2015). As such, this metamorphosis is part of the gradual maturity as well as evolution of the profession over time.
In the light of this, Advanced Practice Nursing (APN) is one the key nursing specialties that has significantly evolved to become one of the most recognized and essential trend among various healthcare systems around the world. Nonetheless, advanced practice nursing has not evolved in isolation, various other specialties have developed over the years as well (Joel, 2013). However, most of these specialties have developed in a different direction as compared to advanced practice nursing. As such, this paper seeks to describe and explore a key specialty that has developed in a different direction from the APN and describe the goals as well as the future vision of these roles in relation to the emerging needs and healthcare trends.
Evolution of specialty areas
With the numerous challenges witnessed in healthcare especially due to technological advancements and the aging population coupled with an increasing demand of healthcare services, various specialty areas have developed over the years to effectively meet these challenges. Currently, there are various specialty areas particularly in nursing that provide many opportunities to nurses and promote the delivery of quality care to the users of health services.
Evolution of APN compared to nursing informatics
The concept of APN was initiated in the mid-twentieth century to meet the increasing demand of healthcare services among the underserved populations especially in the rural areas. Essentially, APN is defined as the use of advanced range of theoretical, evidence-based and practical competencies in solving various health problems encountered by patients in specialized clinical settings. Initially, the role of advanced practice nurse was developed outside the formal education programs and involved collaboration as well as mentorship of the nurses by the physicians to provide various healthcare services that were initially provided by physicians. As such, the development of APN role enabled the advanced practice nurse to offer various services such as medical diagnosis, health assessment and treatment of various chronic illness. Thereafter, as the demand for health services continued to increase, APN education was incorporated in the education system and to offer nurses with advanced knowledge and skills that could enable to undertake the APN role and provide relevant services such as medical diagnosis, health assessment and ordering tests, provide treatments to various conditions and offer referral to patients. Currently, advanced practice nurses to have satisfactorily completed the master’s degree education preparation and have a valid licensure to practice as a registered nurse. In the United States, advanced practice nurse has evolved under four distinct categories including; certified nurse midwives, nurse practitioners, certified registered nurse anesthetists and clinical nurse specialists. In regard to this, nurses in these specialties carry out almost different roles with varying scopes of practice and have been developed in response to various identified needs and increase the opportunity for APN to work in new settings.
On the other hand, nursing informatics is another nursing specialty that has been developed in the recent years i.e. in the late twentieth century. Essentially, nursing informatics is described as a specialty that incorporates information science, nursing science as well as computer science in the management and communication of knowledge, data and information in nursing practice (Grace, 2013). The concept of nursing informatics was initiated in nursing practice in the 1980’s and has witnessed significant growth over recent years and has become a widely recognized specialty in various parts around the world. In the earlier years, nursing informatics mainly focused on three key themes i.e. information technology, the role of nurse informatics specialist and conceptual foundations and ignored the practical issues. Thereafter, as informatics was entrenched into nursing practice, formal educations programs were develop to offer nurses the necessary skills and knowledge to practice within the specialty. Currently, nursing informatics is one the most essential and recognized specialties in nursing. Nonetheless, the two specialties (i.e. nursing informatics and APN) have various similarities. For instance, the preparation of professionals in the two specialties involve the undergraduate education training in nursing, obtain a registered nurse licensure and have satisfactorily completed a master’s degree in the relevant field. Additionally, nurse in the two specialties may consult on various issues regarding health policies as well as serve in various capacities in governance boards.
Key differences do you see in nursing informatics evolution as compared with APN specialties
However, most of the roles among the two specialties vary greatly. For instance, nursing informatics specialist are use information technology in coordinating the patients records while advanced practice nurses use evidence-based practice and practical competencies in proving direct care to patients. As such, nursing informatics specialists are mainly not involved in direct care but facilitate care delivery as compared to advanced practice nurse who are usually involved in providing direct care to patients. Moreover, nursing informatics was initiated into nursing practice to promote care delivery through the use of various technological advancements such as information technology as compared to APN that was initiated to meets the growing health needs of the population by widening the scope of practice. Overall, the evolution of nursing informatics mainly includes the incorporation of technological advancements and evidence-based practice while that of APN includes the use of advanced range of theoretical, evidence-based as well as practical competencies in proving solutions to the various health problems among the patients.
Future and goals of APN roles
Essentially, APN specialty comprises of four main roles that include; nurse practitioner, certified nurse midwife, clinical nurse specialist as well as certified registered nurse. Although there is a great variation between these roles, they have a common characteristics that involved the application of advanced knowledge as well as complexity in clinical decision making and critical thinking to solve the various problems encountered in nursing care.
Future and goals of NP (Nurse practitioner)
Nurse practitioner is one of the specialties that has rapidly grown over the years and presented various opportunities to nurse practitioners. Currently, NPs are enrolling in various medical specialties such as medical health as well as emergency medicine and most of the states, NPs usually practice independently without the guidance of physicians but in other states they require the physician’s guidance. However, with the substantial efforts by the nurse practitioners in lobbying for professional autonomy, in future NP in all the states shall practice independently without the guidance or collaborating with physicians whereby this shall enhance the delivery of nursing services to patients especially among the underserved populations. Additionally, there are various goals pertaining this role that include; providing optimal healthcare to individuals as well as families mainly in primary care settings and offering education in various aspects such as management of chronic diseases, health promotion as well as illness prevention. Moreover, NPs should focus on empowering individuals with the relevant knowledge that enables them to effectively control their own health. Another key goal for the NPs is to embrace the utilization of technological advancements and research in care delivery. As such, this role is congruent to the emerging trends in healthcare as well as needs since empowering individuals with the relevant information to manage their own health and educating populations on disease prevention and management of chronic illnesses shall prevent incidences of chronic illnesses that are they key concern in healthcare today and foster optimal management of these illnesses. More importantly, the use of technological advancements in care delivery shall foster optimal care delivery and minimize wastage of resources.
Future and goals of Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS)
Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS) is another APN role that mainly deals with the management of symptoms and diagnosis as well as responses to various illness instead of health promotion (Donelan et al., 2013). In the light of this, CNS mainly focuses on managing various symptoms that emanate from various diseases. The continued increase in healthcare costs provides clinical nurse specialists the opportunity to offer homecare as well as specialized care to individuals with symptoms associated with various illnesses especially chronic diseases such as diabetes. Among the key goal for CNS is to promote the utilization of modern technology, evidence-based practice and research knowledge in enhancing care delivery especially among individuals suffering from chronic illnesses. As such, this relates to the emerging needs and trends in healthcare since CNS mainly provide homecare services that enables patients to receive healthcare services in their homes amidst the rising healthcare costs whereby this fosters the utilization of healthcare services.
Future and goal of clinical nurse midwives
The main goal of clinical nurse midwives is to offer patients a wide range of individualized care that meets their reproductive health demands. With the continued developments in education, science and technology, clinical nurse midwives are expected to adequately offer a wide range of reproductive health services to patients including; gynecological care, obstetric care, labor management, menopause management, family planning as well as contraception guidance.
Future and goals of CRNA (Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists)
The main goal of certified registered nurse anesthetist is to provide optimal emotional support and anesthesia care to patients going through surgical procedures. Essentially, CRNAs are required in various surgical specialties such as obstetrics, cardiothoracic, trauma and pediatrics. However, with the increased diversification in healthcare industry, CRNAs are not limited to the hospital surgical settings alone (Barker, 2015). In future most of the CRNAs are expected to offer their services in a wide range of care settings including; outpatient surgical clinics, psychiatric facilities, gastroenterology suites, obstetric suites and dental clinics. Overall, CRNAs are expected to be in great demand in the coming years due to the various changes in the healthcare sector.
References
Barker, A. M. (2015). Advanced practice nursing. Jones & Bartlett Publishers.
Donelan, K., DesRoches, C. M., Dittus, R. S., & Buerhaus, P. (2013). Perspectives of physicians and nurse practitioners on primary care practice.New England Journal of Medicine, 368(20), 1898-1906.
Grace, P. J. (2013). Nursing ethics and professional responsibility in advanced practice. Jones & Bartlett Publishers.
Joel, L. A. (2013). Advanced Practice Nursing: Essentials of Role Development. FA Davis.
