Nurse Practitioner

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Advance practice nursing roles are in a state of evolution due to the increasing need for quality nursing care at an advanced level in various health care settings. The roles include certified nurse midwife, certified nurse anesthetic, clinical nurse specialist and nurse practitioner. These roles play a vital role in the future of health care system. Of these roles, nurse practitioners are more independent and they work more closely with patients with or without the supervision of physicians. They work in a variety of settings, which include direct patient care, case management, care consultation and collaboration, expert consultant, and researcher. They also provide health care and health promotion to under reserved populations in the community. …show more content…
Pregnancy outcomes can be improved by adding educational component to constant prenatal care. The traditional appointment time for physicians is 7-10 minutes, while that of nurse practitioners is 30 minutes. Thus nurse practitioner gets more time to educate, counsel and make individualized plans of care for pregnant moms. This helps the nurse practitioner to build a personal relationship to the patients, which breaks the barriers of communication and reinforce the quality of care. Thus the patient’s outcomes can be improved by the collaborative care of physicians and nurse practitioners. This collaborative care reduces the morbidity and mortality for mother and child. The number of preterm deliveries can be reduced by early prenatal screening and prenatal education. Close monitoring by nurse practitioners is essential for positive maternal and infant outcomes of high risk patients. Reduction in labor pain and increased level of satisfaction can be achieved through prenatal education and prenatal …show more content…
In this situation nurse practitioner provides case management services. Case management model gives opportunities to early prenatal counselling and screening. High risk prenatal patients find benefits and comforts from this specialized care. Families having a miscarriage also benefits from the counseling role of nurse practitioners. Their emotional distress are reduced through the emotional counseling of nurse practitioners. Unlike physicians, nurse practitioners are well trained in handling these stressful situations. Unhealthy weight gain during pregnancy creates many adverse outcomes for both the mother and the baby. Nurse practitioner gets opportunity to provide education and counseling related to excessive weight gain during the prenatal visit. Physicians often find difficulty in educating pregnant moms about excessive weight gain and unhealthy life styles because of the fear of offending patients. Nurse practitioners deal with these kind of sensitive issues in a compassionate manner. Small achievable goals set by nurse practitioners help the patients to feel successful and to accept the recommendations of the provider without any frustration. Nurse practitioners also motivate the pregnant moms by focusing on the baby’s health, which helps the moms to make changes in their lifestyle for the benefit of the unborn child. Thus nurse practitioners motivates prenatal patients to