Identify the top three current trends or issues that you believe to be most important with regard to your chosen role and the impact the role has one patient outcomes
Considering your role specialization (nurse educator, nurse informatics, nurse administrator, and family or adult-gerontology NP), identify the top three current trends or issues that you believe to be most important with regard to your chosen role and the impact the role has one patient outcomes. Synthesize knowledge from values theory, ethics and legal regulatory statutes, and develop your personal philosophy for a career as an advanced practice nurse in DQ1
Expert Answer and Explanation
Three Important Current Issues Affecting Advanced Practice Nurses
Staffing is a problem of personal and professional concern for healthcare providers today. In fact, problems related to inequitable assignments, staffing level or unit organization are among the primary reasons why a good number of nurses are quitting hospital jobs.
Shortage of nurses is a threat to both nurses and patients. To nurses, inadequate staffing can result to various health complications due to high rates of injury and fatigue. Nurses operating for long hours due to shortage of healthcare providers are subject to medical errors and other types of mistakes. The immediate effect of such situation is the decrease in the quality of care due to increase in readmission rates, overcrowding of emergency rooms, and increase in the rate of mortality (Fagerström, Kinnunen, & Saarela, 2018).
Compensation
According to Association of periOperative Registered Nurses (2018), healthcare providers living in particular regions of the United States earn more than those living in other regions. Healthcare providers staying and working in the Pacific region earn approximately $18,000 higher than an average staff nurse. Another example is that of the North Atlantic region where providers earn $14,800 more than the average earning of a provider. In the East South Central region, however, providers earn $4,300 less than the normal rate.
Besides the disparities of compensations in relations regions, we are also experiencing compensation disparities in terms of gender whereby registered male nurses earn more compared to the females.
Compensation is one of the primary factors which determine retention of healthcare providers. Regions offering low compensation are less likely to attract qualified healthcare providers. Also, such regions might experience high employee turnover, and this can adversely affect the quality of care to patients due to possible cases of shortage of nurses.
The third current issue facing nurses in general is violent behaviors while working in their places of work. Injury rates due to workplace violence increased in all healthcare job categories, and almost doubled for providers between 2012 and 2014 (Gomaa et al., 2015). Various states have come up with measures aimed managing this problem.
For instance, North Carolina has established laws charging individuals with felony in case it’s found out that they attacked healthcare workers. One of the effects of workplace violence is that it negatively affects the productivity of a nurse (Bordignon & Monteiro, 2016). This definitely means that the quality of care provided by an injured nurse will be low.
My Personal Philosophy
My personal philosophy is one that I’ll abide to for my entire nursing career. This philosophy is primarily based on empathetic, compassionate, competent, and comprehensive patient care to best of my knowledge and ability. This personal philosophy draws its roots from beliefs and values instilled in me in during my childhood. These beliefs and values are accompanied by compassion, respect, trustworthiness. This is what attracted me towards this career, and still, guiding me as I keep on providing care to the patients, families, and society.
As an advanced practice nurse, I believe that education is fundamental for the purpose of keeping an eye on my philosophy. Continued training regarding the issues connected to patient care is of great importance. I subscribe to the school of thought which holds that extensive research results to a wealth of information, which in turn, may improve my skills and place me in better position to offer prime quality care.
I truly believe that sexual orientation, ethnic background, and cultural beliefs of families and individual ought to be respected. I am strongly confident that I will continue offering care without demonstrating any kind of discrimination.
My objective is to be a promoter, an educator, and an advocator of various rights of patients and those of other professionals. I believe that nursing is not just a career. It is a golden opportunity for individuals who’re passionate about applying their skills and knowledge to assist those who’re not in a position to assist themselves.
References
Association of periOperative Registered Nurses. (2018). What Are You Worth? 2017 Salary Survey Top Takeaways – Association of periOperative Registered Nurses. Retrieved April 25, 2019, from Aorn.org website: https://www.aorn.org/
Bordignon, M., & Monteiro, M. I. (2016). Violence in the workplace in Nursing: consequences overview. Revista Brasileira de Enfermagem, 69(5), 996–999. https://doi.org/10.1590/0034-7167-2015-0133
Gomaa, A. E., Tapp, L. C., Luckhaupt, S. E., Vanoli, K., Sarmiento, R. F., Raudabaugh, W. M., … Sprigg, S. M. (2015). Occupational Traumatic Injuries Among Workers in Health Care Facilities — United States, 2012–2014. Retrieved April 25, 2019, from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website: https://www.cdc.gov/
Fagerström, L., Kinnunen, M., & Saarela, J. (2018). Nursing Workload, Patient Safety Incidents and Mortality: An Observational Study from Finland. BMJ Open, 8(4), e016367. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2017-016367
