Pulse Check
This course has helped me to gain invaluable insights about the advanced practice nursing roles. I have also been able to master most of the predesignated course outcomes, although I must admit that I require further development in some areas. An important area in which I have been able to learn a lot pertains to the different roles and scope of practice for nurses working in advanced arenas. These arenas include clinical, education, administration, informatics, research, and health policy arenas (Hamric, Hanson, Tracy, & O'Grady, 2014). While I was able to learn that these professionals might have different responsibilities and roles, I also grasped the nature of interdependence between the various professionals and the importance of multidisciplinary collaboration for advancing the profession and ensuring the dispensation of quality care to patients.
From the class lectures and assignments, I also gained a heightened understanding of the core competencies that apply to advanced practice nurses. These competencies can play a central role in improving the quality of care dispensed to patient and fostering the professional development of the advanced practice nurses. Some of the competencies that cut across all APN roles include effective communication, responsive leadership, coaching and mentorship, consultation, teamwork, people development, as well as respect for diversity (Goodman, Reidy, & Cartier, 2012). Among these competencies, the one that would benefit me from further improvement is diversity awareness. To improve my skills in this competency domain, I aspire to find mentorship from my superiors, enrolling in multicultural courses in addition to providing care to diverse patients where I can get firsthand account about dealing with multicultural issues in health care.
As I have further learned in this course, health promotion and disease prevention are critical aspects in the work of advanced practice nurses. Apart from improving the health of communities, health promotion and disease prevention are also instrumental for curtailing the escalating health care costs in the nation and enhancing the quality of life particularly for vulnerable populations such as the elderly, women, veterans, and racial/ethnic minorities (Swan, Ferguson, Chang, Larson, & Smaldone, 2015). I plan to take a proactive stance in fighting for the rights of these vulnerable populations to access quality care and minimize the disparities experienced by these populations. Specific strategies that I aspire to utilize to fight for these vulnerable and marginalized groups include engaging in advocacy efforts and liaising with other stakeholders such as faith-based communities to call for responsive reforms geared towards elimination of the disparities.
Overall, it is my conviction that the course has offered a solid foundation to guide my clinical practice in the future. I will continue integrating lessons learned about the importance of informatics to provide coordinated and safe care to clients.