APRNs and 21st-Century American Healthcare

Advanced Practice Registered Nurses (APRNs) are an increasingly important fixture within the 21st-century American healthcare system and nursing profession. Full practice authority is a central key to APRNs ’ ability to fulfill the needs of the American public, and it’s time for such authority to be granted nationwide.My APRN StoryIn my own experience as a nurse, Advanced Practice Registered Nurses have figured largely. In the early years of my nursing career in Western Massachusetts, I was lucky enough to work with several teams of gifted nurse practitioners. These particular NPs were blessed to work alongside physicians who recognized their value and gave them great latitude of practice, despite the fact that Massachusetts APRNs practiced then and now under a restricted license. In my current home state, the New Mexico Nurses Association fought a hard and ultimately successful fight over APRN full practice authority. As a home health nurse, my nursing practice here in New Mexico has benefited greatly from collaboration with responsive, talented, and skilled NPs with the ability to handle any and all issues related to primary and specialty care. Personally speaking, my own healthcare is reliant upon the expertise of several nurse practitioners. These NPs oversee my care, prescribe medications, order diagnostic tests, and coordinate with specialist providers, all of whom themselves recognize the centrality of NPs to filling the gaps in primary care in our largel...

Source: Digital Doorway - July 9, 2018 Category: Nursing Tags: APRN APRNs family nurse practitioners healthcare healthcare careers healthcare delivery healthcare policy nurse practice nurses nursing Source Type: blogs