APRNs are key stakeholders involved in the provision of quality healthcare services. AANP.org (2022) reports that Americans prefer APRNs, such as nurse practitioners, to become their primary care providers. The rationale for hiring APRNs is backed up by the significant roles these stakeholders play. Firstly, APRNs integrate their expertise in diagnosing and patient management with disease prevention (AANP.org, 2022). This promotes a comprehensive approach to healthcare and improves the quality of care and patient outcomes. This approach lowers healthcare costs for patients with both chronic and acute medical conditions (AANP.org, 2022).
Secondly, ANA (n.d.) reports that APRNs are autonomous clinicians with the ability to assess patients, order and interpret tests, make diagnoses, prescribe both pharmacological and non-pharmacological plans, and monitor patients. Also, as autonomous practitioners, APRNs are involved in patient, family, and community education (Cooper et al., 2019). The autonomous nature of APRNs makes them invaluable in primary healthcare and other healthcare settings. For instance, AANP.org (2022) reports that nurse practitioners have prescriptive authority in all states and conduct more than one billion patient follow-ups annually. Furthermore, AANP.org (2020) reports that APRNs offer a comparable quality of care to physicians. Findings indicate that patients served by nurse practitioners have lower incidences of hospital readmissions and preventable hospitalizations and higher satisfaction levels than those served by physicians (AANP.org, 2020). As such, APRNs leverage their speciality training to optimize the quality of care, promote patient-centeredness, and improve outcomes.
Thirdly, Heinen et al. (2019) report that APRNs promote care coordination by collaborating effectively with interdisciplinary team members and upholding leadership. Care coordination improves the quality of care because different interdisciplinary team members participate actively in the treatment process. This collaboration is facilitated by the fact that the training of APRNs focuses on the importance of effective communication in the healthcare setting (Heinen et al., 2019). Therefore, APRNs should be hired to improve the quality of care and lower healthcare costs.
AANP.org. (2022). Nurse Practitioners in Primary Care. https://www.aanp.org/advocacy/advocacy-resource/position-statements/nurse-practitioners-in-primary-care
AANP.org. (2020). Quality of Nurse Practitioner Practice. https://www.aanp.org/advocacy/advocacy-resource/position-statements/quality-of-nurse-practitioner-practice
ANA. (n.d.). Advanced Practice Registered Nurse (APRN). https://www.nursingworld.org/practice-policy/workforce/what-is-nursing/aprn/
Cooper, M. A., McDowell, J., & Raeside, L. (2019). The similarities and differences between advanced nurse practitioners and clinical nurse specialists. British Journal of Nursing, 28(20), 1308–1314. https://doi.org/10.12968/bjon.2019.28.20.1308
Heinen, M., van Oostveen, C., Peters, J., Vermeulen, H., & Huis, A. (2019). An integrative review of leadership competencies and attributes in advanced nursing practice. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 75(11), 2378–2392. https://doi.org/10.1111/jan.14092
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