discussion

I am a professional registered nurse, and I would like to advance my nursing career to become an advanced practice nurse. As a nurse, I am always passionate about providing the best care to my patients. Therefore, my main reason to pursue advanced practice major is to advance my nursing knowledge and skills, necessary for offering improved care to patients. Again, I would like to further my career and acquire a greater competitive advantage in the healthcare job market. Advanced practice nurses perform several roles, including diagnosing patients, conducting lab tests and interpretation of results, records, dispensing medications to patients, and providing counseling services to patients, among other roles (Hayes et al.,2017).

Family nurse practitioners (FNPs) provide healthcare services to specialized patient groups, including seniors, adults, adolescents, and infants. They provide comprehensive and lifelong care through health education, disease management, as well as preventive health services. Their role in primary care includes diagnosing patients, ordering and interpretation of diagnostic tests, providing counseling, and conducting examinations, among other roles. FNPs have adequate training to work autonomously in delivering primary care. They offer essential services to underserved groups or populations that have limited access to care services. I think that FNPs should utilize EBP to ensure improved patient outcomes for various age groups. For instance, EBP may help FNPs to understand research and gain more knowledge about hereditary illnesses and different treatment solutions for family members of diverse ages. (Gellasch, 2019).  Also, EBP can help FNPs to understand better research about chronic infections that progress in an individual’s lifetime, hence resulting in improved care.

            Various skills and personality traits play an essential role in forming a successful nurse practitioner. For instance, a nurse practitioner should have outstanding communication skills, problem-solving skills, and competence. Also, he/she should be compassionate, optimistic, and enthusiastic.

References

Gellasch, P. (2019). The Developmental Screening Behaviors, Skills, Facilitators, and Constraints of Family Nurse Practitioners in Primary Care: A Qualitative Descriptive Study. Journal of Pediatric Health Care, 33(4), 466-477.

Hayes, S. A., Zive, D., Ferrell, B., & Tolle, S. W. (2017). The role of advanced practice registered nurses in the completion of physician orders for life-sustaining treatment. Journal of palliative medicine, 20(4), 415-419.