Characteristics of the 21st Centrury APN (Essay Sample)

Characteristics of 21st Century APN
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Characteristics of 21st Century APN
The Advanced Practice Nursing has lately been considered to be the backbone of the health care system in many countries around the globe. Despite a nascent operational field given that it started in the early 1990s, the APNs are making as many contributions in the health sector as the primary health care physicians do. This essay seeks to determine the essential characteristics in terms of skills, knowledge, and information that a 21st-century APN ought to possess. Analysis indicates that for the future, APN should have an expert knowledge base in the chosen field, be educationally prepared, and research-oriented. The APN should also possess complex decision-making skills, enhanced management, clinical competence, enhanced autonomy, and leadership skills.
One of the defining characteristics of APNs is that they should have an expert knowledge base in their chosen area of specialization. According to Dowling et al. (2013), an APN should have a master’s degree in nursing or any other relevant field that enables the nurse to offer quality health care. Furthermore, the APN should have the complementing vigor, vivacity, and verve to constantly undertake research in the chosen field of specialization. Therefore, the future APN should participate in discourses that catapult knowledge creation (Roche et al., 2013). The implication is that the 21st-century APN will not only be well-versed in the best practices in their field of specialization but will also be active in knowledge contribution. For this reason, the future APN should be grounded in evidence-based nursing practices.
The 21st century APN should also possess excellent decision-making skills (Bergman et al., 2013). They should have superior health assessment skills as they have increased expert knowledge and information making it easy for them to make evidence-based decisions. Moreover, Ruel & Motyka (2009) state that the 21st-century APN should have advanced diagnostic and reasoning skills. They should have the ability to make the right diagnosis and prescribe medications including that of controlled drugs and treatment. Moreover, they should also have the capacity to refer their clients to the other health care professionals and even recommend patients to be admitted to hospitals. Many of the current APNs have the right and ability to perform the aforementioned tasks. However, in some places around the globe, their duties have heavily been restricted (Dowling et al., 2013). It emanates from the misguided view that APNs do not have the same capabilities as have medical doctors and the other physicians do.
Crucially, the 21st century APN should also possess enhanced clinical competency (Sheer, Wong & Kam, 2008). The APNs should have the necessary extensive clinical experience to enable them to offer quality care services to their clients. One of the core qualifications of APNs is that they should have at least two-year experience of general practice in the area of preferred specialization. The knowledge they gain from pursuing further studies in their chosen field further enhances and complements their clinical competence. For this reason, the 21st century APN should have the ability to offer consultancy services to the other health care professionals in their areas of specialization (Roche et al., 2013). The implication is that the future APNs will have to specialize further and go deeper to raise their knowledge and competency.
Additionally, the 21st-century APN should have increased autonomy. According to Bergman et al. (2013), autonomy should enable them to become more comprehensive in their health care approach. Currently, they do not enjoy the desired degree of professional autonomy like their physician counterparts even though they have more or less the same qualifications and capabilities. As the health care needs increases, the APNs should also have increased professional autonomy. They can gain this through working in an environment that provides an APN-MD interaction (Roche et al., 2013). If they gain the necessary knowledge and practice skills, they would be able to have the autonomy to provide holistic health care interventions.
The 21st-century APN should further possess managerial competence. Management competence will equip them with the relevant knowledge and skills to design, plan, and implement evaluate medical programs and interventions (Dowling et al., 2013). APNs are cognizant of the fact that the health care services ought to be not only of excellent quality but also affordable. That is why in many instances, the APNs are not as expensive as primary care physicians. The managerial competence will come in handy in designing cost-effective yet quality health care interventions. It is also imperative that the 21st-century APN possess leadership skills. This repertoire should enable him or her to sit on advisory boards among others to offer their knowledgeable perspectives and insights in a multidisciplinary platform (Sheer, Wong & Kam, 2008). Apart from sitting on boards, the APNs will also be able to write editorial opinions and participate in fellowships among other leadership privileges that enrich the society’s quality of life.
Lastly, just like in any other profession, the 21st-century APN should have the ethical skills to propel them practice in an ethical manner. The...