Advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs) pursuing advanced education, especially Master of Science in Nursing (MS) need to specialize in certain areas of care provision based on their options and desires. Deciding the choice of specialty is essential for APRNs so that they can focus on a certain area of healthcare delivery and improve overall patient outcomes (Delaney et al., 2019). Consequently, I have considered different specialties before making the decision to be a psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner (PMHNP). The purpose of this paper is to discuss and compare my primary and second preferred specialties and identify the role of each specialty based on the preparation. The paper also discusses the justification for the selected or preferred specialty and examines a professional organization related to the specialty and way of joining the organization.
My preferred specialty is being a psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner (PMHNP). PMHNP nurses offer a full range of primary mental health care, including the psychosocial assessment, evaluation, diagnosis and developing treatment and care plans for patients with mental health needs and psychiatric disorders (Foster et al., 2020). Through the use of their knowledge and skills of psychotherapy modalities and psychopharmacology and in collaboration with physicians and other professional, PMHNP nurses place their patients on regimen of therapy and prescription medications to enhance their mental health. Psychiatric nurse practitioners also offer support and education to families and communities besides the evaluation of their patients’ progress throughout their lifespan (Jones et al., 2022). They also participate in policy development and health care reforms as they relate to mental health and treatment of mental health patients to improve access, reduce cost burden and enhance overall quality of care delivery (Delaney et al., 2019). The PMHNP specialty offers different opportunities and options for one to work in various settings that include inpatient and emergency department, outpatient clinics, rehabilitation facilities and even in telehealth or tele-psychiatry.
The second preferred option is working as family nurse practitioner. Family nurse practitioners (FNPs) work with families to offer both preventing and secondary care through implementation of health care plans. According to the American Association of Nurse Practitioners (AANP), FNPs maintain patient records, perform physical examination and order or conduct diagnostic tests as well as prescribe medications. They can also work in a variety of health care practice areas that include community health settings, private practice, health care systems and even in institutions like universities (AANP, 2019). FNPs can also attain additional certifications in different areas like diabetes and obesity management to meet the specific needs of their different patients across the care and age continuum. These certifications also help them to enhance their career prospects.
Similar to the PMHNP, a family nurse practitioner works with patients of all age groups in different care settings. The FNP can work independently in their own practice or be part of a team. Further, like the PMHNP, the FNP also requires similar qualifications of at least a master’s degree in advanced nursing education. However, the two specialties are fundamentally different in terms of roles and responsibilities and even the practice settings. For instance, the FNP’s primary focus is meeting the physical needs of patients, families and health populations (Kleinpell et al., 2019). Conversely, the PMHNP focuses on meeting the mental health needs of patients and even families. The two specialties are critical because they all implore providers to have further areas of focus that can include geriatrics, pediatrics, and even adolescent health.
Step 2: Justification of Nursing Specialty
The choice of nursing specialty depends on one’s desires as a healthcare providers based on needs within the community. The decision to select PMHNP specialty emanates from various reasons that include bridging the gap in mental health access to available resources. My qualification and practice as a PMHNP will assist address the rift between psychiatric services need and availability and access. Secondly, the misconceptions on mental health continue to rise and this affects accessibility by patients and the quality of care that one gets. Individuals and families have failed to seek mental health services because of increased levels of stigmatization and limited resources within the community settings (Foster et al., 2020). Individuals are fast to ignore and even deny the existence of signs and symptoms of mental health problems because they fear stigma from society an
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