Advanced Practice Nursing Case Study

Advanced practice nursing (APN) has been evolving for some time now. There was a time when nurses practiced in the role of an APN but it was not recognized as a specialty role. This began in the 19th century. However, the term APN was established in the 1980’s to describe the four roles of certified registered nurse anesthetist (CRNA), certified nurse-midwife (CNM), clinical nurse specialist (CNS), and nurse practitioner (NP) (Hamric, Hanson, Tracy & O’Grady, 2014). According to the definition for the APN, it requires an education preparation, the provision of direct patient care and also competencies that may vary depending on the population of patients the APN serves (Hamric et al., 2014). The APN is required to earn a minimum of a graduate degree in nursing and also to perform direct clinical care to their patients. Therefore, the profession of nursing has grown and expanded to provide specialized care to individuals in

One of these is access of care. With the impact of changing health care policies, individuals are finding themselves with funding for health care but limited access due to a shortage of physicians. Nurse practitioners are finding themselves in increasing demand. The number of nurse practitioners and the number of individuals receiving care from them has increased (Kuo, Loresto, Figaro, Rounds, & Goodwin 2013). Also, with consumer choice in mind, patients are reporting more satisfaction with the care of nurse practitioners including, more time spent at the bedside and also improved patient outcomes (Kuo et al., 2013). The role of nurse practitioner is dependent upon collaboration and the NP’s practice is essential to collaborating with physicians and other interdisciplinary health care workers to provide adequate patient care. The NP is supervised by a physician according to state mandates and their reimbursement for services is also contingent upon their supervision in