Question Description
- Outline and discuss a plan to promote the value of the APN model to the public.
- Using
the latest statistics and evidence, provide a compelling argument and a
brief background to the public about why APNP care is essential.
- Discuss how you would promote the value of utilizing an APN as a provider of services.
- Use
data from sources that illustrate how efficient, and cost containing
APNPs are versus other health care provider roles. This is not an
exercise that diminishes our other colleagues, but one that promotes the
value of the APNP role.
Students are expected to:
- Post an initial substantive response of 250 words to each question
- Please be sure to validate your opinions and ideas with citations and references in APA format.
- References and citations should conform to the APA 6th edition.
- Substantive
comments add to the discussion and provide your fellow students with
information that will enhance the learning environment.
- The peer postings should be at least one paragraph (approximately 100 words) and include references and in text citation
Rebecca’s Response
Promoting the APN Role
Recent
care delivery models have focused on providing value-based care to
patients. The changes provide opportunity for APNs to take a leadership
role in implementing models and systems to effectively deliver that
care. APNs are able to improve the patient experience of care, including
quality and satisfaction, improve overall population health, and reduce
the cost of health care (Galioto, 2017). The public can be made aware
of the important and value of APNs but allows flyers to be posted in
primary care facilities and other medical offices.
Essential Care
APNs
are essential advocates for health care policy. They have the clinical
expertise and the educational background to present the case for passing
legislation on health care issues. APNs are on the front lines of
health care and treat multiple patients with unique needs and can relate
personal experiences regarding how legislation can impact these
patients. As nurse leaders, APNs must be involved in health policy. The
APNs who advocate for major health policies can influence countless
people throughout their state and the nation, depending on the level of
the health policy. APNs can conduct quality improvement projects in
their working environments, and can use their findings to help implement
new policies at the facilities where they work. Another major way APNs
can affect health policy is to write to their state or federal
legislators regarding a health policy bill that has been filed. Because
they work with patients on a daily basis, APNs can share personal
stories about how an enacted bill could have helped a specific patient
reduce complications, or perhaps may have reduced health costs by
screening or treatment at an earlier disease stage. Involvement in
health policy is the most important role an APN can have in impacting
positive change in health care that will benefit multiple generations of
patients across institutions, states, the nation, and even globally
(Chilton, 2015).
The Value of an APN
APNs
are of great value within the health care setting. APNs are becoming
more valuable and are also becoming more necessary. Consumer demand for
APRN provided care is growing due to a shortage of primary care
physicians, the soaring cost of health care, and a population that is
aging and living longer with more acute and chronic conditions. APRNs
practice in settings ranging from hospitals to community health centers
to school-based health clinics, and they are especially valued in rural
and underserved areas, where primary care physicians are hardest to find
(Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, 2018).
Reduction in Costs
There
are many ways the APNs help reduce healthcare costs while improving
quality. APNs help reduce the cost of patient visits across healthcare
settings. Numerous studies show extensive savings within facilities that
employ nurse practitioners. In a 2009 study in Nursing Economics, it
was found that APN-led care was associated with lower drug costs for
inpatients in acute-care settings. Nursing Management has also published
findings that show APNs in managed care deliver care at 23% below the
average cost associated with other primary-care providers. APNs also
keep patients out of the hospital. While chronic conditions take a toll
on patients’ physical and emotional well-being, they also result in
added costs. APNs are proven to decrease patient hospitalizations, ER
visits and lengths of stay at various facilities, keeping healthcare
costs down for patients, institutions and taxpayers, and reducing time
and income lost from work (Cooke, 2015).
References
Chilton. (2015). Nurse Practitioners Have an Essential Role in Health Policy. The Journal for Nurse Practitioners, 14(8), 16-18. Retrieved October 6, 2018.
Cooke. (2015, August). Ten ways NPs reduce costs, improve quality. Retrieved October 6, 2018, from http://www.managedhealthcareexecutive.com/mhe-arti…
Galioto. (2017, December). APNs Have a Role in Leading Value-Based Care. Retrieved October 6, 2018, from https://voice.ons.org/news-and-views/apns-have-a-r…
Robert
Wood Johnson Foundation. (2018, February 27). APRNs a “Big Part of the
Solution” to the Primary Care Provider Shortage. Retrieved October 6,
2018, from https://www.rwjf.org/en/library/articles-and-news/…Helen’s Response
- A plan to promote the value of the APN to the public:
Advanced
practice nursing presents a contribution to client care with the
application of the advanced scope of practice, experience in many
domains of practice, integrated nursing knowledge and leadership
(Kilpatrick, Lavoie-Tremblay, Ritchie, & Lamothe, 2014). I would
share with the public information from the Federal Trade Commission,
National Council of State Boards of Nursing, and the Institute of
Medicine. Value is added when APNs see patients partly due to increased
access to healthcare. A way the value of APNs can be promoted is by
changing existing regulation/law so that the profession is independent.
This needs to be accomplished nationwide.
- Why APN Care is Essential, Efficient, & Cost Effective
In
2012, the National Healthcare Quality Report documented that access to
care in the U.S. is suboptimal, especially pertaining to low-income
groups and minorities; access to care is diminishing; and there is
emergent attention needed in the areas of maternal-child health, cancer
care, and non-communicable disease care (National Council of State
Boards of Nursing, 2014). According to the Federal Trade Commission
(FTC), the goal should be to refrain from restraint of practice and
allow APNs to fully work independently (FTC, 2014). An excerpt from the
Institute of Medicine in the FTC report states that practice
restrictions undermine the nursing profession’s ability to provide care
and to improve healthcare (FTC, 2014). APNs in independent practice
provide care that is safe, lower in cost and high in quality. A review
of 31 studies shows that the care that APNs provide is equal to or
higher than physicians though the cost of care is 15% less than
physicians (Woo, Lee, & Tam, 2017).
Findings in one study
demonstrate that APNs perform as well as physicians in terms of clinical
outcomes and patient satisfaction (Swan, Ferguson, Chang, Larson, &
Smaldone, 2015). There is also evidence that APNs require fewer primary
care visits, and that APNs demonstrated similar guideline adherence to
physicians and provide more patient education (Swan et al., 2015). A
RAND corporation study showed that the care by APNs was equal to that of
physicians at a lower cost with higher patient satisfaction (Hooker
& Muchow, 2015). The evidence in this study adds to the body of
evidence that primary care provided by APNs is similar to or superior to
the care provided by physicians (Swan et al., 2018). In primary care
settings where patients were randomly assigned to APNs or physicians,
and where APNs had the same authority, administrative duties,
responsibilities, and productivity as physicians, patient outcomes were
comparable (Swan et al., 2018).
References:
Federal Trade Commission. (2014). Policy perspectives: Competition an the role of the advanced practice nurse [Pdf].
Kilpatrick,
K., Lavoie-Tremblay, M., Ritchie, J.A., & Lamothe, L. (2014).
Advanced practice nursing, healthcare teams, and perceptions of team
effectiveness. Journal of Trauma Nursing, 21(6), 291-299. Doi: 10.1097/JTN.0000000000000090
National Council of State Boards of Nursing. (2014). Journal of Nursing Regulation, 4(4), 5-12. URL: http://www.journalofnursingregulation.com
Swan,
M, Ferguson, S., Chang, A., Larson, E., & Smaldone, A. (2015).
Quality of primary care by advanced practice nurses: A systematic
review. International Journal for Quality in Health Care, 27(5), 396-404. Doi: 10.1093/intqhc/mzv054
Woo,
B.F.Y., Lee, J.X.Y., & Tam, W.W.S. (2017). The impact of advanced
practice nursing role on quality of care, clinical outcomes, patient
satisfaction, and cost in the emergency and critical care settings: A
systematic review. Human Resources for Health, 15(68), 1-22. Doi: 10.1186/s12960-017-0237-9
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