Overview
Working at the Primary Care Clinic at the Veterans’ Administration (VA), nurses are exposed to a range of diagnoses and patient care concerns. The experience helps evolve core competencies in a range of practice areas. The VA calls the Primary Care services “the foundation of VHA healthcare,” as well as the first point of contact with the VA healthcare system for most veterans,” (U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs,” 2016). Therefore, the clinical environment is varied and challenging, revealing the different ways healthcare providers and nurses establish long-term relationships with patients and coordinate care services across a broad spectrum of needs.
Week 8 Journal
This week, I fulfilled the DNP objectives during clinical practice with the Primary Care Clinic at the VA. Several instances showcased the nurse’s role as patient advocate. Clearly, advocacy plays a critical role in VA healthcare, with nurses increasingly being called upon to help empower patients and their families by offering information and mobilizing resources. Communications competencies also proved highly effective and important in the VA Primary Care setting, requiring active listening and working also as liaison between several parties including patient, administration, and other members of the healthcare team. The role of patient advocacy improves my overall understanding...
Veterans at the primary care clinic remain critically underserved for their mental healthcare needs. Yet research continually reveals the strategic importance of PTSD screenings (Magruder, Frueh, Knapp, et al., 2004). Screenings are integral to the principle of clinical prevention, which helps improve the nation’s overall healthcare and public health objectives. Linked with the core competency of patient advocacy, it becomes apparent that a nurse working in primary care in the VA system needs to strongly speak out in favor of improved mental health and PTSD screening services. Organizational leadership in the primary care facility promotes quality improvement through official policy, but actual practices and day-to-day care does not necessarily reflect the stated goals, objectives, and mission of the organization.
Week 10 Journal
This week, the importance of health informatics, information technologies, and information systems…
