Advanced Practice Nursing

Masters-prepared graduates in nursing are prepared to work in a variety of roles. They are also able to practice in many different areas of nursing. Some graduates may get involved in new roles because of health care reforms in the United States, as well as changes to the global healthcare system. Some graduates practice in different areas of nursing such as becoming professors and nurse practitioners. Others decide to become leaders in clinical settings. Still, others choose to use their skills in indirect ways, including organizational focuses such as managerial informatics, public health, program managers, or clinical research coordinators.

For nurses to be in compliance with the American Association of College Nursing (AACN) recommendations, all of these career paths require that these nurses take coursework that will prepare them for in-depth irrespective of the fields in which they want to participate. Nurses must complete a variety of courses in different nursing disciplines including hospital management, patient care, and information management to successfully complete a master’s program.  This different type of exposure helps nurses figure out the specific type of nursing they would like to pursue once they have a more solid career.

The individual interviewed had a master’s degree in nursing education, and is currently employed using this degree and is also pursuing a Ph.D. in nursing education. The experience together with the personal knowledge of the professor provided extremely valuable insight into the workings of the profession and how to become an effective nursing educator.

The individual wanted to seek out a degree in nursing education because she wanted to be a professor and a mentor to future nurses. A degree in nursing education helps achieve this goal by teaching about the different techniques necessary for effectively teaching the skills necessary to make for a good nurse. Furthermore, nurses are educating not only other nurses but staff, physicians and individuals who are responsible for healthcare facilities. To make the maximum impact in the field, it is necessary to have this background, and higher-level education to gain the qualifications necessary for teaching effectively (Kemmerer, Bashura, Dintzis, Mathioudakis, & Golden, 2015). The AACN also recommends higher levels of nursing education for people who want to become teachers because it helps them develop techniques to be able to talk about different aspects of nursing philosophy in more nuanced ways. 

At present, the interviewee is working as a staff development educator in a healthcare facility. In that position, she is responsible for doing in-service training for people who are hired as new nurses. She also assesses the ability of the nurses to practice and collaborates with them and their nurse managers to design their learning experiences. This is an extremely important role because it helps the nurses gain the most and be the most effective practitioners as possible. With this insight into training new nurses, the hospital is able to devote more energy into providing nurses with the training necessary for them to give exceptional care to their patients and also learn the hospital protocols as quickly as possible.

In this position, the interviewee is responsible for designing the learning experience that plays into a nurse’s strengths and helps the nurse develop these strengths (Masters, 2014). It also helps the nurse understand how to play into weaknesses so that they are able to take care of patients with confidence. In addition to teaching individuals, the interviewee also uses her skills as a nursing education to teach part-time at a community college to impart knowledge on these students.

Staying in contact with the academic environment is important in the development of a nurse’s career because it helps nurses stay in contact with academia and also the sources of literature. This means that nurses provide better evidence-based care to patients than if they were not exposed to the academic world. Additionally, these skills help develop patient interaction skills, largely because they promote developing excellent communication skills.

In addition, masters programs prepare students for leadership roles because they provide a solid clinical background, with the added benefit of teaching students to be creative. Creativity leads to better problem-solving skills, which helps nurses fare better in leadership roles, where they likely have to solve problems within the hospital or organization and come up with creative solutions (American Association of Colleges of Nursing, 2011). This ability also helps nurses anticipate the changes that will be necessary for an organization to maintain its standing in the community and continue to provide excellent care to patients.

The masters training involved courses in research policy and finance which are extremely important topics in managing a healthcare organization. There are financial realities to running any organization, and it is important for nurses to be aware of these realities when entering into leadership roles within the organization. Ethics is also extremely important because it helps students understand the different possibilities with respect to decision-making (Wolf, Foley, Wheeler, Cavender, & Thoman, 2014). Ethics allows nurses to understand the various implications of decisions from more than just a medical or business perspective.

There are multiple pieces of advice that nurses should consider. The first is enrolling in a school that is accredited. This is invaluable because it means that the courses are tailored towards AACN requirements, and also ensures that students can move on to Ph.D. programs. 

One of the most important competencies identified in this was evidenced-based decision making. These advanced care programs help individuals learn how to make decisions based on evidence rather than making decisions solely based on feelings or past experience. This is evidenced by the fact that the nurse learned how to teach others, and teaching others requires reviewing literature so that the information is not antiquated.

References

American Association of Colleges of Nursing. (2011). The essentials of master's education for advanced practice nursing. ERIC Clearinghouse.

Kemmerer, T., Bashura, H., Dintzis, J., Mathioudakis, N., & Golden, S. H. (2015). The impact of nursing and advanced practice clinicians on the implementation and outcomes of an inpatient glucose management program. AADE in Practice, 3(5), 16-25.

Masters, K. (2014). Role development in professional nursing practice. Jones & Bartlett Publishers.

Wolf, L. E., Foley, D., Wheeler, C., Cavender, B., & Thoman, J. (2014). Ethical issues in nursing. Cleveland State University. Retrieved from http://engagedscholarship.csuohio.edu/henriettalacks/conference2nov15/all_november_2014/3/