How to write a nursing essay on issues in Today’s Workforce Culture (Solved)

How to write a nursing essay on issues in Today’s Workforce Culture (Solved)

Advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs) are important members of today’s healthcare system in providing quality care to patients. The growth of APRNs in all 50 states has increased access to care and shaped the healthcare delivery system at large. However, a few challenges that limit the practice of APRNs need to be addressed to allow maximum benefit for patients. The book ‘Policy and Politics in Nursing and Health Care’ discusses the issue of full practice authority for APRNs. I believe the reasons why full practice authority faces challenges in the US are multifactorial and changes are required in more than one policy area to improve the practice of APRNs.

The first reason why there exists the challenge of full practice authority (FPA) for APRNs is the regulation of nursing practice by individual states. Although federal laws regulating nursing practice exist, each state is allowed to determine the scope of practice for nurses. This explains why some states have adopted the FPA for APRNs while others face challenges with passing the law. Today, only 44% of the states in the country have approved FPA which allows APRNs to evaluate patients, diagnose, order, and interpret diagnostic tests, and initiate and manage treatments (Mason et al., 2020). The existence of differences in the laws governing nursing practice in the country makes it difficult to mutually agree on the issue of FPA for APRNs. Nurse practitioners with the same educational preparation may face restrictions in different states when relocating, thus limiting their scope of practice (Peterson, 2017). These restrictions are observed to impact payer policies and subsequent supervision by physicians hence affecting the APRNs’ full practice.

The second issue affecting FPA for APRNs is federal regulations. There exists some outdated laws governing nursing practice in the country that limit the scope of APRNs. For example, the issue of physician oversight has long been a factor pulling behind progress towards FPA in many states. Historically, physicians have provided supervision to nurses based on the aspect of educational preparation (Moore et al., 2020). For example, while nurse practitioners spend two or three years to fully complete their course, physicians spend four years in school and three to seven years of residency training. The differences in training make it difficult to scrap the physician oversight regulation for APRNs. The American Medical Association (AMA) remains firm in denying APRNs to be granted FPA stating that they are worried about the effect on quality patient care access (Mason et al., 2020). In some states that have considered expanding the scope of practice for nurses, the MA has voiced fierce opposition making it difficult to reach an amicable solution.

Apart from the already existing regulations affecting FPA for nurses in the country, inexperienced nursing advocacy is an area that requires observation. Passing state laws is all about politics and the presence of support from the top-most levels of governance. I believe the strong organization of the medical department compared to the nursing department makes it difficult to convince lawmakers to pass rulings in their favor. Research establishes that softening up of nurses and the issue of proper timing impact the passing of laws in their favor (Moore et al., 2020). For example, nursing professional organizations should have utilized opportunities during the COVID- 19 pandemic to push for advancement in policies regulating FPA in some states. A crisis like COVID- 19 can bring attention to policymakers regarding the role of APRNs in providing quality care and reducing healthcare worker shortage. I believe a wait for the perfect moment and early preparation of nurses can strengthen the fight for FPA.

References

Mason, D. J., Perez, A., McLemore, M. R., & Dickson, E. (2020). Policy & Politics in Nursing and Health Care-E-Book. Elsevier Health Sciences.

https://evolve.elsevier.com/cs/product/9780323554985?role=student

Moore, C., Kabbe, A., Gibson, T. S., & Letvak, S. (2020). The pursuit of nurse practitioner practice legislation: A case study. Policy, Politics, & Nursing Practice21(4), 222-232. https://doi.org/10.1177/1527154420957259

Peterson M. E. (2017). Barriers to practice and the impact on health care: A nurse practitioner focus. Journal of the Advanced Practitioner in Oncology8(1), 74–81. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5995533/

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