Introduction
Nurses transform the quality of life using health care interventions, which improve nursing practice systems. Advanced practice roles ensure patient’s safety and quality assistance through various health interventions. Thus, advanced practice nurses dictate, prescribe, treat, order and, implement different health interventions and treatments. The roles of advanced nurses are divided into clinical and nonclinical. Clinical roles include health care services, disease prevention, intervention, treatment, and management. Nonclinical advanced practice roles include funding, administration, healthcare policy, and management. Advanced nursing practice involves a nurse practitioner, educator, informatics specialist, and administrator (The American Organization of Nurse Executives, 2011). This paper will compare and contrast the roles of advanced practice nurses. We will identify leadership roles, practice environment, and population of those professionals.
Nurse practitioner
A nurse practitioner usually have a certificate in advanced health practice. They provide services such as physical examination, laboratory test, treatment, disease management, prescriptions, referrals, education and intervention practices. A nurse practitioner can work in different settings, which include cardiology, emergency, family practice, primary health care, school health, neonatology, women’s health, and pediatrics. Nurse practitioners must assume leadership roles to ensure a healthy environment for initiating change, fostering collaboration with stakeholders and participating in professional health campaigns. Nurse practitioners can work as educators in schools and communities to ensure health safety standards and regulations. The role of the NP in clinical practice ensures quality prescription and examination procedures. However, nurse practitioner may not interfere with policy matters. They can only advise and recommend on health standards for administrative policy makers.
Nurse educator
Nurse educators provide nursing principles and guidelines for quality health care. Nurse educators prepare students in academic and clinical environments. The nurse facilitates learning, socialization, and evaluates health outcomes in the community. In administrative settings, a nurse educator supports professional development in the discipline. Thus, nurse educators are responsible for student training, public safety, and nursing education. They provide a policy change framework for healthcare and nursing systems. However, the roles of nurse educators are limited in primary and clinical practices. Nurse educators provide the framework for healthy standards, while nurse practitioners carry out treatments and health intervention plans. Thus, nurse educators are responsible for implementation of teaching strategies that meet learning needs to offer quality-nursing services. Secondly, nurse educators contribute to nursing training based on the required content and context. Unlike the practitioner, educator works in academic and administrative settings. Nurse educators initiate changes in the health care system to ensure patient safety and high standards in nursing education.
Nurse informatics
Nurse informatics integrates nursing, rules, data, communication, computer science, ethics, and practice to promote patient’s safety and quality. The role of nursing informatics in administration facilitates the decision making process. Unlike educators, nurse informatics can work as researchers, system designers, engineers, consultants, educators, technologist, and program officers. The core job description for nurse informatics includes data presentation, software design, research and research methodologies, analysis, information dissemination, policy design and management. Informatics improves the quality of health care delivery by shortening the decision making process. For example, nurses in primary healthcare can download interventions patterns and treatments from an online database during an emergency. The reduction in time wasting could save the patient’s life. Previous surveys suggested that cases of emergencies were reduced using a documented rescue plan and procedure. Nursing informatics can work in different health settings. The health settings include primary health care, clinical practice, education, and administration. Thus, nursing informatics correlates and computes nursing data, policy, intervention plan, and treatment to improved community health.
Nurse administrators
Nurse administrators are health practitioners that coordinate a team of nurses. Nurse administrators are products of a complete training system (The American Organization of Nurse Executives, 2011). They hold certifications in specialized nursing procedure and implementation. Nurse administrators can work in different organizations, ministries, and communities. A nurse administrator can act as a clinician, an educator, a practitioner, and an informaticist. Unlike other nursing roles and practices, nurse administrators can effect a change in health policy. Thus, nurse administrators are the heartbeat of all health policy interventions and treatment.
We will contrast the responsibilities of administrators with educators, practitioners, and informatics. The responsibilities of nurse administrators include:
- Planning health intervention procedures.
- Establishing and documenting health rule and regulations.
- Regulating clinical procedures.
- Promoting staff development.
- Bridging the gap between nursing practitioners and advanced practice.
- Coordination and supervision of the nursing population.
- Organization of budget planning and implementation.
- Provision of nursing counseling units.
- Analyzing health care procedures and decisions.
- Providing recommendations on new policy and guidelines.
- Evaluate nursing resources and equipment.
- Enacting policies and procedures during emergencies.
- Working as a consultant in health related settings.
- Monitoring clinical procedures and recovery interventions.
The overall responsibility of a nurse administrator will ensure healthy standards and regulations. Nurse administrators occupy leadership roles and are seen as change agents. However, nurse educators work majorly in the field. Nurse educators train health care providers in nursing discipline. Nurse administrators are leaders of various departments while educators are change agents (The American Organization of Nurse Executives, 2011). A nurse educator, administrator, informatics, and practitioner ensure patient’s safety and quality. Health intervention programs are the primary objective of advanced nursing practice. Nurse educators are the ages of all experimental research. Nurse educators work with administrators to develop nursing protocols and code of practice. While advocating for a change policy, educators observe nursing outcomes using corrective framework. In a clinical environment, they implement standard procedures for advanced nursing roles (Pickard, 2002). In administration, nurse educators facilitate the change by conducting relevant surveys. However, nurse practitioners used relevant intervention procedures to improve the quality of services. Nurse practitioners are agents of socialization. They complement the efforts of informatics, educators, and administrators. Nurse practitioners are guided by the recommendations of the administrators. Finally, the similarities between the four advanced nursing roles lies in the patient’s safety and quality. However, the difference in roles corresponds to nursing specialization.
Regulatory and legal requirements for nurse administrators
Nursing administrators work in different settings to ensure excellent patient safety. The breadth of experience complements the degree of specialization. However, advanced-nursing practice regulates the activities in the profession. We will examine the regulations and legal requirements for the state of Rhode Island.
The regulations and legal requirements (R5-45-NHA) supersede previous documents for Rhode Island (State of Rhode Island Providence Plantations, 2007). The authority document is divided into three parts. Part I defines nursing terms used in the document. The terms include act, board, contact hours, director, department, nursing home, nursing home administrator, and regionally accredited. Part II describes licensing requirements for a nurse administrator. The section is subdivided into eight headings. Section 1 describes license requirements. Section 2 describes the qualification status for license approval. The application requirements are listed in section 4. Section 5 describes licensing procedures and protocols. Issuance and renewal of license is documented in section 6. Sections 7 and 8 document continuous education and revocation procedures. Part III describes different violations and punishments for them. The section has three subheadings. Section 1 ascribes punishments to various nursing offences. Section 2 describes ethical code and practice governing nursing services. Severability rules are listed in section three. The code of conduct for a nurse administrator stipulates guidelines for the smooth operations of health care delivery. License revocations will be the last resort when a nurse violates ethical health standards. The recommendations of the disciplinary committee will be subjected to the commission’s approval.
Professional organizations available for membership
A nurse administrator can apply for membership in various nursing organizations depending on the choice of interest. However, professional nursing organizations reserved for a nurse administrator are stated below. The nursing organizations include American organization of Nurse Executives, American Nursing Association, National Nursing League, National Nursing Staff Development Organization, National Federation for Specialty Nursing Organization, Trio-Council for Nursing, Nursing Organization Liaison, National Council of State Boards of Nursing and Congress of Nursing Practice and Economics. However, health practitioners can choose any association of interest. The benefits of the associate will attract members.
Competencies and certifications for a nurse administrator
The core responsibilities of a nurse administrator include planning, coordinating, organizing, evaluating, administration, direct access to patient safety, managing health units, organizing health personnel, and maintaining the nursing certification. Thus, a nurse administrator must have competencies in various leadership and administrative discipline. Generally, nurse administrators coordinate the operations of the organization to ensure patient safety. A nurse administrator documents daily decisions and health related transactions. The certification and competency skills include charge nurses, clinical nurse specialists, head nurses, head nurse emergency, licensed practical nurses, maternity service directors, head administrators, nurse practitioner, nurse practitioner emergency, staff nurses, nursing supervisors, nursing directors, nursing education directors, and nursing service instructors. Consequently, a nurse administrator should be registered and certified in nursing practice. Nurse administrators must hold certifications in nursing management and leadership. Other requirements include bachelor’s degree in relevant field, degree in administration, nursing management, approved license, certification, managerial studies, and computer skills.
Organization, setting, and population
Work settings influence health care delivery. This assumption transcends nursing practice roles and guidelines. Patient safety is influenced by the resources available for the nurse administrators. Staff shortage, inadequate medical equipment, and patient population may hinder the quality of the health care deliver. This explains the misunderstanding between health care practitioners and the complex work environments. Consequently, a nurse administrator may work in settings that require organizational skills. Owing to the high cost of medical services, nurse administrators in rural communities may work with limited resources. Therefore, administrative competencies will be used to cushion the effects of inadequate medical services. Under this arrangement, a nurse administrator will have few resource personnel to carry out health services. I will predict a complex organizational setting for nurse administrators in a rural environment. Owing to the increasing population, patients will outnumber nursing practitioners. Thus, nursing administrators must be competent in different work environments to ensure quality service delivery.
Leadership attributes of advanced practice role
A leadership style is a manager’s pattern of coordinating, organizing, directing, implementing, guiding, and motivating people. Nursing administrators require leadership skills to ensure quality health care delivery.
Determine your leadership style
My style is called participative leadership (About.com, 2014). A participative leader correlates individual inputs and ideas for the overall benefit of the organization. Health care stakeholders include nurse administrators, educators care providers, clinicians, informatics, and the patients. Thus, a participative leadership style will ensure better health care services.
Identifies leadership attributes you currently possess, and attributes you may need to develop
My leadership attributes include personal integrity, strategic action plan, communication skills, teamwork, managerial competence, technical ability, survival skills, and quality assurance. The areas that need development include mentorship, political context, coaching interventions, strategic alliance, and resource management. The most influential attributes of a leader is integrity. Integrity separates leaders from followers. Communication skills is a major tool in health care delivery. A leader must carry out all segments of the organization no matter the language barrier. Thus, an effective leader will utilize various learning programs to effect a change in the organization.
Determine how to attain and evaluate the missing attributes
Mentorship skills can be evaluated using the work environments. My ability to coordinate, teach, and train young nurses will indicate competence level. Coaching interventions require specialized training sessions. The program will harness my competence in strategic alliance and quality assurance. I will take a mentoring class to improve my professionalism. However, I will organize a mentoring program to evaluate my strength. The participants will be selected from various nursing institutions. The program will influence my competence level to ensure better performance. Strategic alliance utilizes the capacity of every resource variable. In emergencies, limited resource personnel may spell a doom for the patient. However, a nurse administrator with competent strategic alliance will effectively allocate limited resources to ensure quality service delivery. Coaching interventions will improve my expertise in complex situations.
Health policy and the advanced practice role
Previous surveys suggested that the mortality ratio increases in areas with poor medical services. The quality of treatment is a major issue for policy makers. However, policy change can extend and preserve the quality of life. The care of the elderly and chronically ill patients has not received special interventions (Robert Wood Johnson Foundation). Surveys conducted revealed that the population of elderly people increased geometrically (Aiken & Patrician, 2000). The need for a long-term assistance for the elderly is a major concern for policy makers (Aiken & Patrician, 2000).
Describe the current policy
The existing framework does not care for the elderly. The cost of treatment increases as people are aging, while chances of quality health care decrease. Health analyst forecasts an increase in the population of chronically ill patients. Policy makers are surrounded with constraints that affect the elderly. A survey conducted by a local research association in New York suggested that long-term care for the elderly might elude our generation. Why do elderly people require special interventions? Can policy makers enact laws that help the elderly in special ways? Elderly people from minority populations and social class cannot afford the cost of treatment. The higher social class has suppressed the search for a suitable policy for the elderly. They argue that the cost of maintaining a long-term plan will be counterproductive to the economy. Some argue that the cost of a federal assistance program will be more compared to the state assisting program. Observers believe that a long-term plan should include people from other nations. Participant’s eligibility status impedes a suitable long-term policy for the elderly (Evandrou & Glaser, 2002).
The implications of an ineffective health care policy will increase the mortality rate. It will increase the population of destitute across the country. The population of elderly people without adequate health facilities may increase the mortality rate.
Provide the process required to make the change
To fashion an effective plan for the elderly, policy makers must be professional. The politics of the majority must be eliminated. Nurse informatics and educators should examine the cost of a long-term plan for the elderly. The cost of treatment should be individual at different levels. The federal and state roles in a long-term plan should be designed and approved. The recurrent expenditure for the policy is a setback in actualizing a long-term plan for the elderly. However, informatics may consider other avenues of funding, such as insurance scheme and grants. The key players in the policy change include health associations, private organizations, the state, and federal government. Others include charitable organizations, public institutions and religious organizations.
Explain how you could lead the effort to make or influence the change in policy
As a nurse administrator, I will educate all the key players on the risk implications of elderly populations. I will organize several workshops and seminars to enlighten the community on the ‘gray’ areas of the policy. I will also advise the government on the benefits of a suitable long-term plan.
Predict the effect on health care quality if the change in policy is implemented
Thus, a change in health care policy for the elderly will improve the quality of life. It will provide a sense of belonging to the elderly. These sections of the population were once young and vibrant workers. Thus, a long-term health policy will benefit the entire community.
References
About.com. (2014). Education psychology, Web.
Aiken, H. & Patrician, P. (2000). Measuring organizational traits of hospitals: The revised nursing work index. Nursing Research, 49 (3), 146-53.
Evandrou, M. & Glaser, K. (2002). Changing economic and social roles: The experience of four cohorts of mid-life individuals in Britain, 1985-2000. Population Trends, 110(1), 19-30.
Pickard, L. (2002). The decline of intensive intergenerational care of older people in Great Britain, 1985-1995. Population Trends, 110(2), 31-41.
State of Rhode Island Providence Plantations. (2007). Rules and regulations for licensing of nursing home administrators, Web.
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. (2014). Health policy, Web.
The American Organization of Nurse Executives. (2011). The AONE nurse executive competencies: Communication, knowledge, leadership, professionalism and business skills. Web.