Whole Health and Advanced Practice Nurses

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Liability and Risk Management

Health care includes many liabilities and risks which must be managed efficiently to provide the best and safest care for patients. It is imperative that providers pay careful attention to personal negligence in their clinical practice, especially the duty owed clients and not breaching that duty (Nagelkerk, 2005). This intensity must continue as APRNs are added to the system. All providers need to approach their clinical practice with effective personal risk management steps including knowing how to meet guidelines and requesting feedback. Some basic strategies highlight Whole Health's overall proactive approach. Understandable performance measures that can reasonably be followed in everyday practice are in place. Methods are developed system-wide for all guidelines to be met. Steps for monitoring performance measures and obtaining feedback are provided (Nagelkerk, 2005).
Patient confidentiality, disclosing the appropriate information to the patient, and informed consents are major areas of potential risk that are common to all providers. Awareness of state laws, scopes of practice, standards of care, and the limits of one's own training and expertise are pertinent ways to minimize these risks. Coding errors, billing mistakes, and inaccurate documentation are liabilities no health care system can afford to let happen. Providers must be certain they focus when they are performing these tasks and double-check their work. One easily prevented potential risk is giving medical advice to family and friends outside of the clinical setting. Buppert (2012) notes the best way to minimize this risk is to avoid it.
New technologies are always exciting and can add a lot to a provider's practice. ...

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...on their professional liability experience along with the patient's safety. Their understanding of guidelines and performing with both quality and safety is the best risk management. Shorter hospital stays; fewer readmissions, emergency room visits, and specialist visits; health promotion; disease prevention; lower drug costs; safety; and better outcomes are all ways APRNs impact the economy of a health system.
APRNs fit the need by being able to practice across the full range of settings and patient populations (Safriet, 2011), thereby allowing patient choice. They also understand accountability by providing safe, competent care. Not only do APRNs fit the needs in an evolving health care delivery system that will continue to evolve (Safriet, 2011), they also fit the mission of Whole Health health care system and will allow them to meet, and exceed, their goals.

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