Strategies Necessary to Become a Successful Family Nurse Practitioner - Essay Example

? Strategic plan: Family Nurse Practitioner Strategic plan: Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP) Nurse practitioners (NPs) are registered nurses who are prepared, through advanced education and clinical training, to provide a wide range of preventive and acute health care services to individuals of all ages. NPs are authorized to practice across the nation and have prescriptive privileges, of varying degrees, in 49 states. The most recent Health Resources and Services Administration Sample Survey report (2008) shows 158,348 Nurse Practitioners in the United States, an increase of more than 12 percent over 2004 data. The actual number of nurse practitioners in 2006 is estimated to be at least 145,000 (What is an NP?, n.d.). A substantial portion of the nurse practitioners in America are family nurse practitioners or FNP’s. Unlike other nurses, a family nursing practitioner is able to practice with greater autonomy. It should be noted that most of the other nursing staffs are working under the doctors and they do not have the authority to take any treatment decisions. FNP’s can treat the patients same way as a physician does even though they have some limitations in practicing certain complex treatment tasks like surgery. Since the beginning of my nursing studies, my overall career goal was to become a family nurse practitioner. I enjoy the autonomy in that field of work. I know very well that it is not easy to become a family nurse practitioner. This profession definitely involves lot of risks and matter of concerns. It should be noted that the FNP’s are working with the family rather than the individual and therefore he/ she should develop lot of skills and qualities to excel in this profession. This paper is written as a strategic plan for me to become a successful family nurse practitioner. Strategies necessary to become a successful family nurse practitioner “Sociologists tell us that even the most introverted individual will influence ten thousand other individuals during his or her life span” (Maxwell, 2005, p.2). Nobody can influence a person based on his heredity. In fact influence is a learned skill rather than an inherited skill. I know very well that I have to develop skills to influence people to who I interact as part of my profession. The confidence of the patient in the abilities of the healthcare professional is an important factor for providing effective healthcare. Such confidences can be developed only through relationship building process. The ability to influence others is the core of relationship building process. In short, to become a successful FNP, I should first improve my abilities to influence others. According to Maxwell, (2005), “People who are unable to build solid, lasting relationship will soon discover that they are unable to sustain long effective leadership. Needless to say that you can love people without leading them, but you cannot lead people without loving them” (Maxwell, 2005, p.8). I should develop more leadership qualities to excel in my profession. Leadership qualities will help me to establish sound relationships with the patients who come in contact with me. Grossman &Valiga (2005) mentioned that “no qualities were found that were universal to all leaders, although a number of traits did seem to correlate with leadership” (Grossman &Valiga 2005, p.2). The development of leadership qualities is a controversial topic. Some people believe that it is inherited whereas others believe that it is learned. “Great man theory of leadership says that one was a leader if one was born to into the right family –usually a family of nobility- and possessed unique characteristics, most of which were inherited” (Grossman &Valiga 2005, p.2). On the other hand, “Situational theories of leadership stress the importance of environment in shaping the leadership qualities of a person” (Grossman &Valiga, 2005, p.2). In any case, it is a fact that leadership qualities can be developed even if absent genetically. I do believe that I have strong inherited traits of leadership; but I should polish it more. According to Maxwell (2005), “A leader is great not because of his or her power but because of his or her ability to empower others” (Maxwell, 2005, p.10). Proper communication skills are necessary for FNP’s to excel in their profession. One of the unique characteristics of family nursing profession is the fact that FNP’s are capable of treating a family as a whole rather than treating the patient alone. In other words, FNP’s interact with families rather than individuals. Therefore, it is important for me to develop communications skills to interact successfully with diverse people. It should be noted that because of the health problems of a family member, others in the family may develop physical as well as psychological problems. Some diseases have the ability to spread instantly and FNP’s can help the family members of the patient to take preventive measures in advance. Moreover, FNP’s can help the family members of the patient to get rid of the psychological problems generated by the disease of their beloved ones. In all the above instances, communication skills will help the FNP’s to manage those situations well. Spirituality is usually associated with healthcare profession in many ways. It is necessary for me to know the spiritual needs of the patients first before starting my treatment procedures as a family nurse practitioner. According to O’Brien, (2008), spirituality is generally understood in terms of a person’s attitude and behavior related to God whereas religiosity is related to a person’s beliefs and behaviors associated with a specific religious tradition (O’Brien, 2008, p.5). Nurses should know this distinction to cater the needs of the patient based on their spiritual needs as well as religious practices. Spiritual needs and religious needs may not travel in parallel direction always. In other words, even people belonging to same religion may have different concepts and beliefs about God. For example, Christian religion consists of many communities such as Catholics, Protestants etc. All these communities have different customs and rituals even though all of them believe Holy Trinity. Since counseling is part of family therapy, it is my duty to know more about spirituality of various kinds to manage different people. “Nursing as a profession will embrace more than an art and a science; it is a profession which intended for helping those who are physically, mentally and spiritually ill” (O’Brien, 2008, p.6). it should be noted that physicians treat only physical diseases whereas psychiatrists and psychologists treat mental diseases. On the other hand, a FNP needs to treat problems associated with body, mind and spirit. In other words, the responsibilities of a FNP are extremely complex compared to that of other healthcare professionals. Many people have the false belief that a healthcare professional like FNP may provide only physical and psychological care to the patients. In reality, most of the patients who come in touch with the FNP need spiritual care more than physical and mental care. Freed et al. (2010) pointed out that pediatric patients represent only a small fraction of FNP patient populations (Freed et al., 2010, p.861). People during the end of life situations may give more importance to spirituality than any other things. The great uncertainty prevailing about the life after death forces people during their end of life situations to rely more on spirituality. They may ask their doubts about spirituality to anybody who come in touch with them. In short, I should my knowledge more about spirituality so that I can clear at least some of the doubts of the patients in touch with me. Nurses should keep two important principles of spiritual intervention in mind when ministering to those who are ill. First, because each person has a unique spirituality, the provisions of spiritual care cannot be derived from a procedure book of orders; and second, to intervene in the spiritual needs of others, the nurse must first understand his or her own spirituality or relationship to God (O’Brien, 2008, p.147). “Nurses caring for patients in this faith stage should be sensitive to the adult’s more mature spirituality especially in relation to finding the meaning in his or her illness” (O’Brien, 2008,p.67). Even though FNP’s are well equipped with the knowledge from academics to deal with physical problems and psychological problems of the patients, they are not so in solving the doubts of the patients about spirituality. In fact academics have limitations in providing enough knowledge about spirituality to the FNP’s since spirituality is a controversial topic. So, it is better for me to collect as much as knowledge about various theories about spirituality to deal with the diverse belief structure of the patient community. According to Shawler (2011), “The Role of the Advanced Practice Nurse or APN in palliative and EOL care includes expert clinician, educator, researcher, and manager/administrator”(Shawler, 2011, p.168). Conclusions In order to excel in the profession of family nurse practitioner, I should first develop my leadership qualities and ability to influence others. I should learn more about improving my communication skills with individuals and groups. Since patients during their end of life situations need more spiritual care rather than physical and mental care, I should improve my knowledge about spirituality to excel in my profession. References Freed, G. L., Dunham, K. M., Loveland-Cherry, C. & Martyn, K. K. (2010). Family Nurse Practitioners: Roles and Scope of Practice in the Care of Pediatric Patients. Pediatrics, Nov2010, Vol. 126 Issue 5, p861-864 Grossman, S. C. & Valiga, T. M. (2005). New leadership challenge: Creating the future of Nursing. F. A. Davis Company; 2 edition (June 2005) Maxwell, J. C. (2005). Developing the Leader within you. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishing.  O’Brien, M. E. (2008). Spirituality in nursing: Standing on holy ground. (3rd ed.). Jones and Bartlett.  Shawler, C. (2011), PALLIATIVE AND END-of-LIFE CARE: Using a Standardized Patient Family FOR Gerontological Nurse Practitioner Students. Nursing Education Perspectives. May 1, 2011. = What is an NP? (n.d.). American College of Nurse Practitioners. Retrieved from http://www.acnpweb.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=3479 Read More