The type of organization I would expect to work in as a Family Nurse Practitioner is the Community Health Center in Florida. According to Taylor (2004), Community Health Centers are clinics that are meant to serve the uninsured and the underserved people in the society. These clinics are located in both rural and urban areas throughout Florida. As Taylor (2004), points out, approximately 40 million Americans are uninsured and several other millions who have health insurance lack access to quality healthcare. Unfortunately, those who are insured sometimes find it very difficult to identify the best health care provider who can accept their insurance. Some health care professionals such as Family Health Practitioners may be willing to provide care to the underserved and the uninsured, but they do not find an opportunity to do so. Although Community Health Centers form represent just a single component of the health care setting where Family Nurse Practitioners can work, they play a very big role in ensuring that people in a community receive quality health care (Taylor, 2004). As a Family Nurse Practitioner, I will find the Community Health Center in Florida a very good place to work in.
The Community Health Center in Florida serves low-income patients, including males, females and the young population. Majority of adults who seek care at the Community Health Center in Florida are under 65 years of age. In the recent past, the number of patient seeking care at the Community Health Center has been on the rise. These people come from different ethnic, racial, and linguistic backgrounds. Furthermore, patients who visit the Community Health Center in Florida are less likely to have health insurance. Currently, the health center serves about five thousand uninsured patients from within Florida State. It reflects the varied needs of the population it serves. Since the facility largely serves female patients and a majority of young population, it creates a high demand for family practice services, gynecologic practices, and pediatric services. Patients visiting the Community Health Center in Florida require access to quality health care as well as enabling services that can best be provided by a Family Nurse Practitioner (Taylor, 2004).
According to Hamric et al. (2014), advanced practice nursing refers to a level of nursing practice that employs comprehensive knowledge, experience, and skills in nursing care. An advanced practice nurse uses a high degree of knowledge, skills, and experience in maintaining strong nurse-patient relationships with the aim of solving patients’ problems and achieving optimum patient outcomes. Therefore, to qualify as an advanced practice nurse, a registered nurse must meet the professional qualifications for advanced nursing role. Every Family Nurse Practitioner working at the Community Health Center in Florida must meet the professional qualifications for advanced nursing role. The professional must possess a valid Registered Nurse License in the States of Florida. In order to obtain this license, the Family Nurse Practitioner must complete advanced nursing degree programs that provide them with special training and experience to assess their ability to provide family healthcare (Florida Board of Nursing, 2015).
As a Family Nurse Practitioner working at the Community Health Center in Florida, I will work with patients throughout their lives, diagnose illnesses, conduct medical examinations, and prescribe medication. Furthermore, I will serve as the only health care provider for my patients and ensure that they get access to quality care. Additional duties that I will perform at the Community Health Center include development of treatment plans for patients with acute and chronic diseases, provision of guidance to patients on how to prevent diseases and on healthy lifestyle habits, and management of overall patient care regarding lifestyle issues. As part of patient follow-up activities, I will emphasize to my patients on the importance of preventative care and disease management. I will also conduct health promotion activities to families throughout the aging process (GraduateNursingEDU, 2015).
The Florida Nurse Practice Act will support my role as a Family Nurse Practitioner at Florida Community Health Center. According to Nursing Law Manual (2008), the main reason why The Florida Nurse Practice Act was enacted was to ensure that all nurses practicing in Florida meet the minimum recommendations for safe practice. Any nurse, who does not meet the minimum competency requirements according to the Act, will be prohibited from practicing nursing in Florida. The Florida Nurse Practice Act prohibits individuals from practicing advanced nursing unless if they possess an active certificate or license to serve as one. Moreover, the Act prohibits nurses from using revoked certificate or licenses
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