Professional Interview: The Role of NP in the Health Care Field

Nurse Practitioners (NPs) play a vital role in the healthcare field. They are advanced practice registered nurses who provide a wide range of services, including primary and specialty care. NPs are known for taking a patient-centered approach to care, focusing on treating the whole person rather than just a specific illness.

NPs have the education and training to perform tasks such as taking medical histories, performing physical examinations, ordering diagnostic tests, analyzing test results, diagnosing and treating illnesses, creating patient care plans, and prescribing medication. They often serve as primary care providers and are integral in providing access to healthcare in underserved areas.

Permanent transformation of health care offers new possibilities for a nurse practitioner’s (NP) realization. Dynamic health care system contributes to the broadening of NP’s role in delivering patient-centered and holistic care. Particular situation determines the NPs’ awareness of the benefits, rewards, possible success and challenges, as well as the position in the health care professionals’ hierarchy. The interview with the NP enables to create the picture of the healthcare provider transforming the health care into the cost-effective and humanistic system.

The Benefits and Rewards of the Profession

The modern roles of the NP reflect the diversification of the health care services and comprehensive vision of caring thus predisposing the benefits and rewards of the profession. Being one of the most trusted ones in the U.S., this occupation contributes to the social mission and, hence, the NP’s self-acknowledgement. The interviewed NP emphasized the personal and financial benefits and rewards of the NPs career.

Benefits and rewards of the profession of nurse practitioners (NPs) are the following:

• Nurse Practitioner: NPs enjoy a prosperous job outlook due to a shortage of physicians and an aging population, ensuring job security. The autonomy of nurse practitioners allows them to diagnose, treat, and manage patient care independently, which is highly rewarding professionally.
• Primary Care: As primary care providers, NPs offer accessible health care, especially in underserved areas, enhancing community health outcomes. The role of primary care NPs is crucial in providing holistic care that addresses all aspects of a patient’s well-being, leading to high patient satisfaction.
• Health Care: NPs contribute significantly to the health care system with their ability to provide comprehensive and continuous care. In the health care field, NPs are pivotal in managing chronic conditions and promoting preventive care, which is essential for long-term health sustainability.

To be specific, the issues of caring, honesty, trust, and communication refer to personal satisfaction as a result of a nursing mission to help. With this respect, Niezen and Mathijssen (2014) clarify that intrinsic rewards are caused by patient’s satisfaction with the services provided by NPs. The Affordable Care Act implementation, the Consensus Model for APRN regulation, and the IOM report reinforce the leading role of NP in eliminating the disparities in primary care. Hence, the greater diversification of clinical settings as well as the growing number of people covered by Medicare and underserved communities imply new possibilities for financial rewards and governmental grants for advanced nursing practice in new areas of exercise (Zywiak, 2013).

Success in the NP Position

The mentioned above benefits contribute to the permanent professional and personal development that induces achievements in the NP primary care. While evaluating success in the position of the NP, the respondent has underlined the continuous education as an essential component of enhancements. The latter can be achieved through the advanced academic education of the master and DNP level. Consequently, the broad range of professional research and practice skills as well as the communication and leadership excellence can be developed. Such high-quality preparation provides the basis for the research and practice integration so as to generate evidence-based solutions that fit the growing social diversity of patients (Niezen & Mathijssen, 2014).

Success in the nurse practitioner (NP) position can be attributed to a combination of skills, qualities, and professional achievements:

Clinical Expertise	Proficiency in performing clinical procedures and making accurate diagnoses is fundamental for NPs.
Lifelong Learning	Engaging in continuous education and staying updated with the latest medical advancements ensures success.
Leadership	Taking initiative in healthcare settings and possibly pursuing roles in policy-making can enhance an NP’s impact.
Adaptability	The ability to adapt to new roles and responsibilities, especially in times of healthcare changes, is crucial.
Patient Advocacy	Prioritizing patient needs and advocating for their care leads to better patient outcomes and professional satisfaction.
Communication Skills	Effective communication with patients and healthcare teams is essential for collaborative care.
Entrepreneurial Spirit	Some NPs may find success in independent practice, utilizing their skills to offer primary care services autonomously.
Professional Networking	Building connections with other healthcare professionals can open up opportunities for career growth.
Certifications	Earning specialty certifications can demonstrate expertise and commitment to the field.
Community Involvement	Volunteering and engaging in community health initiatives can broaden an NP’s experience and influence.

In addition, training programs in the clinical units and nursing organizations of primary care tool for developing managerial and leadership excellence. The interviewed NP mentioned interprofessional collaboration and positive communication establishment as other accomplishments in her practice.

The NPs’ Efforts and Achievements in the Field

The advocating role in the quality of primary care and the NPs’ excellence has enabled them to become visible legislators and policy makers. The interviewed nurse practitioner stressed the emerging perspectives in the leadership activity available in the clinical units, nursing professional organizations, and governmental affiliations. In particular, while responding to the question regarding the achievements of past nurse practitioners, she mentioned the legislative and political initiatives. The studies by Kostas-Polston, Thanavaro, Arvidson, and Taub (2014) argue the professional obligation of a NP to become politically active while improving affordable primary care and the workplace conditions. These are the initiatives that resulted in the legislation of the full practice authority (FPA) in half of the U.S. states. Nurse Practitioners (NPs) have made significant strides in the healthcare field, marked by their efforts and achievements.

Achievements that reflects these contributions:

• Expanding Access to Primary Care: NPs have been instrumental in expanding access to healthcare, especially in rural and underserved communities.
• Leadership Roles: They have taken on leadership roles across the healthcare spectrum, from clinical settings to policy development.
• Innovative Care Delivery: NPs have introduced innovative primary care delivery models, improving patient outcomes and healthcare efficiency.
• Advocacy for Practice Rights: They have successfully advocated for Full Practice Authority in several states, allowing them to practice to the full extent of their training.
• Education and Mentorship: NPs have contributed to the education and mentorship of nursing students and peers, fostering the next generation of healthcare professionals.
• Research Contributions: Their involvement in research has led to advancements in nursing science and primary care practices.
• Global Health Impact: NPs have extended their reach globally, impacting health outcomes and policies beyond their local communities.
• Recognition of Excellence: The profession has been recognized for its excellence, with the NP role ranked as the top healthcare job in America.
• Response to Public Health Emergencies: NPs have been at the forefront in responding to public health emergencies, including the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Promotion of Person-Centered Care: They continue to provide exceptional, person-centered care, serving as leaders in their communities.

These achievements underscore the vital role NPs play in shaping the future of healthcare and their unwavering commitment to the the health care and professional excellence.

The Challenges in the NP Career

At the same time, the scope-of-practice limitations and increasing workplace exhaustion remain the primary challenges for exercise to the full extent of education and skills. The role of the NPs in the promotion of the care quality is still underestimated thus leading to the continuous legislative battles and insufficient integration into the field (Gutchell, Idzik, & Lazear, 2014). As for the challenges, the respondent considered legislative and financial limitations formed by unclear definitions of scope and roles to be primary barriers to efficient delivery of care. Another challenge refers to the workforce shortage in the primary care generating the additional pressure on the quality of services. In particular, the NP points the stressful and burnout environment in the clinical settings in addition to the increased attention to the errors in the advanced nursing practices. Frustration due to the stressful work conditions constitutes the organizational problem of primary importance (Pasarón, 2013).

The career of a nurse practitioner (NP) comes with its own set of challenges:

• Emotional Work: The caregiver role of NPs can be emotionally taxing, as they support patients through vulnerable times.
• Varying Hours: NPs may face challenges with work-life balance due to unpredictable or long working hours.
• Being Compared to Physicians: NPs often deal with the challenge of being compared to physicians, affecting recognition and respect in their role.
• Independent Practice: Depending on the state, NPs may not be able to practice independently, which can impact job satisfaction.
• Rejection from Patients: New NPs might face rejection from some patients who are not familiar with or do not wish to be treated by an NP.
• Business Aspects: Managing the business side of healthcare practice can be a challenge for NPs who are more focused on clinical care.
• Safety on the Job: Workplace-induced injuries and illnesses are a concern for NPs, as they are for all healthcare workers.

Consequently, a new graduate nurse practitioner will encounter the problem of the role identification by the public and providers’ communities as well as incorporation of interprofessional competencies. NPs will still have to prove the expert knowledge and advanced practice skills while integrating into the new clinical settings with traditional professional hierarchy. The respondent indicated the increasing need for family practice, where the NP will have to apply medical knowledge to assess, treat, and manage the health of all the family members. In addition, choosing the family setting, the NP will have to become an educator, an advocate, and a benefactor (Mcmullen & Philipsen, 2013). Such roles will require interprofessional preparation and the mastership in their application. The implementation and enhancement of FPA laws in the long term perspective will face the new graduates with higher responsibilities for the health care solutions in the independent practice. Furthermore, the future of effective patient-centered health care system will highly depend on the NP-physician collaboration.

The NP-Physician Collaboration

The quality and the character of the NP-physician interaction remains the controversial issue in the health care system operation. In the majority of clinical settings, the traditional hierarchy of professional tasks still limits the application of the full range of the NP’s skills. The respondent recognized the necessity of collaboration with physician as a medical professional which basically concerns safer care due to the shared-decision making and the patient’s satisfaction. At the same time, the interviewed NP experienced difficulties in establishing equal and meaningful partnership with a physician. According to the findings by Hain and Fleck (2014), the ambiguity of primary care providers’ tasks leads to stricter payer policies. Notably, the incident-to payments appear the most common practice of reimbursements distinguishing the NP as a physician’s employee. As a result, the controversy manifests in the malpractice claims and identification of defendants. The restrictive policies also concern the prescription autonomy that, however, may lead to cost-efficiency of the services.

Consequently, the expansion of prescription service for NPs determines further possibilities to access another critic field of care. The interviewed NP considered the reallocation of the task to be the appropriate solution for the management of chronically ill patients, especially in the home-based environments. The recent implementation of the prescriptive authority laws in 17 U.S. states contributed to the significance of advanced nursing practice flexible to the needs of socially diverse population (Ambrose & Tarlier, 2013, p.61). The respondent noticed that the new entering NPs often feel the lack of education and fear of disciplinary action for the substance-controlled drug prescription. Hence, there is a need for further training, professional support, and teamwork in the field.

Conclusion

The roles of NPs expand yearly reflecting the progress as well as disparities in the health care field. The diversity of services, competencies, skills, and caring attitude provide personal and financial benefits to the advanced nursing. Recent legislative and advocating efforts of the NPs’ organizations contributed to the expansion of the practice autonomy. However, the restrictive policies toward FPA continue to challenge the NP’s excellence and trigger the development of the NP-physician collaboration and the progress in the prescription procedure.

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