The Role of the Nurse

The article selected is “Time and NP Practice: Naming, Claiming, and Explaining the Role of Nurse Practitioners”. The article provides a new overview of the importance of nursing and the major changes taking place within healthcare. The role of nursing has advanced to the point where they assume some responsibilities that only doctors handled in the past. Some of the things covered for example are the changing of healthcare delivery models and how nursing assumptions and philosophy underpin NP practice (Judge-Ellis & Wilson, 2017). It is important as time progresses, that the role of nurse is understood because recent times have called for a reassessment.
That reassessment includes discovering the complexity of being a nurse practitioner. Patients come in for more than just simple checkups. The article shares how many patients come in for chronic disease management and complications from chronic disease (Judge-Ellis & Wilson, 2017). For example, the diabetes epidemic brought on by obesity and lifestyle choices has led to an increase in doctor visits for those with growing health problems. The nurse practitioner is often the person dealing with patients more than any other medical provider. Therefore, consideration must be taken when attempting to understand the role of nurse practitioner in the future.
Nurse practitioners as explained in the article are considered a very valuable and understaffed role in healthcare. Through the change of care from only physician assessments, to both physician and nurse assessments of patients and their medical needs, nurses have become more empowered to explain not only their unique contributions, but also to highlight their struggles with more complex responsibilities. “Nursing’s profession-based philosophy of care underpins NP practice and contributes to good outcomes. Naming, claiming, and explaining the role of NPs are 3 actions steps that NPs are empowered to enact right now” (Judge-Ellis & Wilson, 2017, p. 583).
References
Judge-Ellis, T. (., & Wilson, T. R. (2017). Time and NP Practice: Naming, Claiming, and Explaining the Role of Nurse Practitioners. The Journal for Nurse Practitioners, 13(9), 583-589. doi:10.1016/j.nurpra.2017.06.024