APN Practice

ANSWER

 APN Practice

Introduction

Healthcare providers are obligated to provide timely, safe, high-quality, and evidence-based care for better health outcomes and improved quality of life for the patients. Nurses are the primary caregivers and play a significant role in providing care. One of the ways through which nurses can improve care delivery is by advancing their education, which enables them to develop skills and knowledge relevant to providing high-quality and cost-effective care to patients (Nordick, 2021). This paper describes how advanced practice nurses (APN) practice, demonstrates cost effectiveness, influences reduction in errors, and affects misuse or overuse of services. APNs are nurses with advanced training and certification, such as a master’s degree or doctorate in nursing, and thus can diagnose and manage complex medical conditions (Nordick, 2021). They can include nurse practitioners (NP), and certified nurse midwives (CNM), among others.

How APN Practice Demonstrates Cost-Effectiveness

The current healthcare system is characterized by high costs, which prevent some individuals, especially those of low socioeconomic status, from accessing various healthcare services. APNs can demonstrate cost-effectiveness in various ways, for instance, by improving patient outcomes, given that they have the skills and ability to manage complex health conditions. Improved health outcomes are associated with decreased need for healthcare services and hospitalizations, which is cost-effective for both the patient and the healthcare system. APNs also help reduce healthcare costs since they are less expensive to employ than physicians. However, they can care for patients independently in some states, just like physicians (Abraham et al., 2019). Lastly, APNs can demonstrate cost effectiveness through the provision of health education, preventive care, and other primary care services, which help in alleviating the burden of various health conditions, thus resulting in reduced healthcare costs for both the patients and the healthcare providers due to reduced number of patients seeking care (Abraham et al., 2019).

How APN Practice Influences Reduction in Errors

Medical errors are a significant healthcare issue associated with increased disabilities, mortalities, and health costs. APN practice can influence the reduction in errors in various ways. For instance, their expertise enables them to accurately diagnose and manage patients due to the advanced training they have had regarding patient care (Nordick, 2021). This, therefore, reduces the incidence of errors. APNs also collaborate with other healthcare providers to develop a comprehensive care plan and ensure continuity of care. This is crucial in ensuring that the patients receive the proper medication at the appropriate time to avoid occurrences of errors. Lastly, APNs can also provide patient education, which helps reduce errors due to misunderstandings about the medications and how to take them (Nordick, 2021).

How APN Practice Effects Misuse or Overuse Of Services

Misuse and overuse of healthcare services are common, primarily due to misdiagnosis or lack of proper care coordination. APNs can help address this issue through care coordination and collaboration with other healthcare providers to promote continuity of care, ensure patients only receive the care they need, and avoid duplicative services (Oldenburger et al., 2017). Through patient education and other primary care services such as screening and immunizations, APNs can help prevent diseases or diagnose diseases early enough and prevent the need for expensive care due to the increased complexity of the disease conditions (Oldenburger et al., 2017).

Conclusion

APN practice effectively addresses various issues within the healthcare system, such as high healthcare costs, errors, and misuse or overuse of healthcare services. These issues, when left unaddressed, can significantly impact access to healthcare services by the patients and, subsequently, their health outcomes. There is, therefore, the need to increase the number of APNs to improve healthcare delivery.

References

Abraham, C. M., Norful, A. A., Stone, P. W., & Poghosyan, L. (2019). Cost-effectiveness of advanced practice nurses compared to physician-led care for chronic diseases: A systematic review. Nursing economic$, 37(6), 293. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8491992/

Nordick, C. L. (2021). Integrating strategies for improving diagnostic reasoning and error reduction. Journal of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners, 33(5), 366-372. https://journals.lww.com/jaanp/Fulltext/2021/05000/Integrating_strategies_for_improving_diagnostic.7.aspx?context=LatestArticles

Oldenburger, D., De Bortoli Cassiani, S. H., Bryant-Lukosius, D., Valaitis, R. K., Baumann, A., Pulcini, J., & Martin-Misener, R. (2017). Implementation strategy for advanced practice nursing in primary health care in Latin America and the Caribbean. Revista Panamericana de Salud Pública, 41, e40. https://www.scielosp.org/article/rpsp/2017.v41/e40/

QUESTION

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