Aspects of APRN Core Competencies

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Direct Clinical Practice
Expert Coaching and Guidance
Consultation
Research Skills
Clinical and Professional Leadership
Collaboration
Ethical Decision-Making Skills
Conclusion
References

Introduction

Professional competencies represent an essential contributor to the provision of high-quality care and the development of the nursing profession in general. As noted by Starkweather et al. (2017), professional competencies represent a crucial element of healthcare because they serve as the baseline for proficiency standards to be upheld by healthcare workers. Some of the crucial elements of everyday care are the quality and safety of services provided by nurses. Advanced Practice Registered Nurse (APRN) core competencies include a combination of abilities and skills that have to be preserved and developed to help respective nurses gain competitive advantages. As a rational means of judgment, professional competency is a way of validating a nurse’s knowledge and clinical reasoning while ensuring that all daily activities are completed correctly. The film by O’Connor (2016) titled Invisible Patients is reviewed to show how APRN core competencies could affect a nurse’s practice daily.

Direct Clinical Practice

In terms of direct clinical practice, Jessica, the film’s central character, represents a professional nurse whose sufficient knowledge in terms of clinical practice is demonstrated from time to time through her relationships with patients. Even though she tries to engage in preventive measures, her core clinical practice competency is to comfort patients irrespective of their health condition. Toward the end of the film, Jessica says to one of the patients that she will try getting some therapy for a male with a brain injury to make him stronger and more mobile (O’Connor, 2016). This ultimately proves that Jessica has all the relevant knowledge to provide care and see the ‘red flags’ in one’s health condition. With her other patient, Jessica tended to spend even more time, as he was ready to die and only had to accept his fate and let go. Each of the practice inquiries initiated by Jessica helped her disseminate evidence and follow the required clinical guidelines.

Expert Coaching and Guidance

Another competence is expert coaching and guidance, where Jessica also successfully excelled, as was also shown throughout the film. For instance, there was one point where she noted how she would love to be called a nurse practitioner but only in the case where there would be a team of professionals ready to work together (O’Connor, 2016). Jessica’s opinion on the subject shows how she understands the importance of coaching and guidance. Her communication with patients and one of the collaborators proves that she possesses excellent knowledge of nursing practice and related policies. For a registered nurse, it is also important to advocate for significant changes in the field of healthcare provision (Hicks et al., 2018). Jessica seems to maintain an analytical approach to her contributions because she is not afraid to apply cross-discipline solutions and investigate policies from a social standpoint. The implications of each of these resolutions are then reviewed to contribute to safer practice and care environments.

Consultation

Jessica’s masterful consultations also stand out from the remainder of the film because she knows how to appeal to a patient and display authentic empathy. According to her commentary, during her office work, she could have seen approximately 20 patients per day, having no problem at all (O’Connor, 2016). The so-called ‘invisible patients’ are of much greater importance to Jessica because she wants her assessments to be comprehensive and helpful for the community. From one patient to another, Jessica seems to apply customized treatments and approaches because she recognizes the need for personalization. For instance, there are several patients that Jessica keeps checking in with because she wants to keep them comfortable and calm (O’Connor, 2016). According to Schumacher and Risco (2017), this is a significant predictor of high-quality patient outcomes because patients have access to all necessary information while anticipating their treatments. Therefore, Jessica is like a caregiving teacher whose consultations facilitate transitional care.

Research Skills

Even though there is only a limited number of examples of Jessica’s research skills that are in line with the list of APRN Core Competencies, it can be claimed that she improves care processes across her whole neighborhood. The effect size is relatively small, but Jessica merely aims at collecting evidence that can be utilized in the future to help even more patients. For instance, it is not a problem for Jessica to research the existing state of affairs on Medicaid hospice services and build connections with caseworkers to aid certain patients (O’Connor, 2016). From the contents of the film, it becomes evident that Jessica is also a skilled negotiator and a nearly perfect partner for any healthcare organization. Her care provision practice is culturally diverse and does not discriminate. Accordingly, Jessica’s research allows her to foresee the impact of healthcare delivery on stakeholders and patients without interfering with the continuum of care.

Clinical and Professional Leadership

As a nursing specialist, Jessica represents a great example of a leader in both professional and clinical settings. She is always aware of the latest trends in care provision because her vision averts her from generating scenarios where patients are ignored by practitioners. Jessica suggests that no one takes care of such patients at the end of the day (O’Connor, 2016). Therefore, she is a role model for other practitioners and a savior for her community, which makes her look like an almost textbook leader. She always supports her patients and does whatever it takes to ensure that patients are not abandoned or left behind (O’Connor, 2016). This is an important concept because she leads with her heart and tries to generate change by delivering care that is in line with the short- and long-term objectives of patients and any responsible healthcare organization. Jessica’s efforts as a leader are always aimed at service improvement and strong patient care management.

Collaboration

Despite being mostly an individual practitioner, Jessica does not ignore collaboration, as it is essential for her to ensure that she has enough support from one of her clinical peers. Such background sustenance relieves Jessica, as she has the possibility not to go through her clinical cases alone (O’Connor, 2016). When managing patients, Jessica is rather vigilant because she tries to prevent diseases, promote health, help patients cope with the negative effects of chronic conditions, or provide actual end-of-life care. This proves that Jessica is challenged by the need to perform the majority of duties singlehandedly. According to Jessica, “if we want health care for our whole nation, we’re gonna have to rely on some nurse practitioners” (O’Connor, 2016). This statement shows how patient-centered care requires nurses to put their trust in interpersonal relationships and focus on collaboration instead of highlighting the importance of individual experience and skills.

Ethical Decision-Making Skills

To integrate ethical values in decision-making, Jessica evaluates all the possible consequences before saying or doing something. This eventually helps her to alleviate the patients’ “transition into something else, whether death or a nursing home or whatever” (O’Connor, 2016). Jessica does not leave any of her patients behind because she recognizes the significance of empathy and its impact on patient outcomes, even in terminally ill individuals. In line with Schumacher and Risco (2017), ethics in nursing decision-making depend on how care is delivered to patients because the information has to come from a variety of sources for the practitioner to make clinically and morally correct decisions. This can be one of the main reasons why Jessica wants people to spend the last moments of their lives with the ones they love and not on cold hospital beds (O’Connor, 2016). Jessica’s considerations require her to remain sensitive to patient needs and wish while preserving the scope of practice.

Conclusion

APRN Core Competencies reviewed within the framework of the current paper establish the foundation for coherent, all-inclusive care practices that require nurses to show the highest possible levels of performance. Accordingly, the film titled Invisible Patients uncovers some of the ways to attain professional competencies similar to Jessica’s and improve patient outcomes through leadership, collaboration, and two-way communication. The impact of advanced practice registered nurses on the quality of care cannot be underestimated. Hence, education and practice have to be altered to cover more real-life scenarios and positively expand clinical experiences. As community leaders and skillful collaborators, registered nurse practitioners could bring significant change to their communities.

References

Hicks, K. E., Rico, J., & Beauchesne, M. (2018). Core curriculum and competencies: A multisite analysis of postgraduate training programs for primary care nurse practitioners.Journal of Professional Nursing, 34(6), 454-462.

O’Connor, P. (2016). The invisible patients [Video]. Pass Christian, MS; Whetstone Road LLC.

Schumacher, G., & Risco, K. (2017). Nurse practitioner program curriculum development: A competency-based approach.The Journal for Nurse Practitioners, 13(2), 75-81.

Starkweather, A., Sargent, L., Nye, C., Albrecht, T., Cloutier, R., & Foster, A. (2017). Progressive assessment and competency evaluation framework for integrating simulation in nurse practitioner education. The Journal for Nurse Practitioners, 13(7), 301-310.

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