I believe that Nurse Practitioners (NPs) play a significant in the provision of preventive care. Traditionally, this has been the role of primary physicians, but not anymore. The NPs have been prepared in primary care and can handle up to 90 percent of the workload carried out by physicians (Donelan et al., 2013). Physicians’ education revolves around diagnosis and the treatment processes, while the training of NPs leans more on the provision of holistic care for communities, families, and individuals (Hauschild et al., 2012). Across the lifespan, NPs also play an important role in prevention and health promotion. Their nature of training and immediacy to the patients makes NPs have a profound influence on the behaviors of patients through the development of strong and long-lasting relationships (Donelan et al., 2013). The one-on-one contact with the patients gives NPs the opportunity to influence the kind of healthcare and lifestyle decisions and choices made by patients, which have the ability to impact on the prevention of chronic diseases.
NPs operate mostly in the rural areas unlike the primary physicians who mostly operate from the urban centers. Their availability in the localities enables NPs to provide care to the uninsured patients and at-risk groups (Hauschild et al., 2012). In the community set up, the NPs partake in health promotion, advocacy, and education. All the above roles played by the NPs help increase effectiveness in healthcare provision.
Goals and Objectives
For this practicum, my goal is to gain expertise in healthcare simulation education and quality improvement as applied to patient safety. I would take the practicum as a tool of improving innovativeness quality in the field of patient safety. I also intend to work on my professional competencies as part of my objectives for the practicum. Key among these competencies is patient safety. I will seek to identify instances of safety goals non-compliance, describe, administrative, and clinical indicators of safety and quality, and be an active participant in hospital forums and committees that advocate for safety of the patient. I would also focus on building my medical knowledge especially on matters of diagnosis and treatment of various medical problems. Lastly, I would work on professionalism skills in general.
Practicum timeline
The practicum is a standard four-week long exercise. In week one, I will work on improving patient safety skills. Week two and three will mainly be occupied by furnishing my professional skills, and in the final week, I would work on my medical knowledge levels.
References
Donelan, K., ScD., DesRoches, C. M., DrP.H., Dittus, Robert S,M.D., M.P.H., & Buerhaus, Peter,R.N., PhD. (2013). Perspectives of physicians and nurse practitioners on primary care practice. The New England Journal of Medicine, 368(20), 1898-906. Retrieved from https://search-proquest-com.ezp-01.lirn.net/docview/1352743614?accountid=158399
Hauschild, T. B., Fu, K. Y., Hipwell, R. C., Baraghoshi, G., Mone, M. C., Nirula, R., . . . Barton, R. G. (2012). Safe, timely, convenient, and cost-effective: A single-center experience with bedside placement of enteral feeding tubes by midlevel providers using fluoroscopic guidance. The American Journal of Surgery, 204(6), 958-62. http://dx.doi.org.ezp-01.lirn.net/10.1016/j.amjsurg.2012.07.025
