Who are Advanced Practice Professionals?
Advanced Practice Professionals is the category of medical professionals and medical clinicians comprised of Physician Assistants as well as all Advanced Practice Registered Nurses (APRNs) including Clinical Nurse Specialists, Certified Nurse-Midwives, and Nurse Anesthetists. Previously referred to as Mid-Levels or Physician Extenders, Advanced Practice Professionals and their professional associations and organizations are now more commonly using this newer term as such previous descriptors and categories are vague and non-descriptive of their actual scope of practice.
About Advanced Practice Registered Nurses (APRNs)
APRNs are with advanced clinical education, knowledge, and scope of practice. They define a level of nursing practice that utilizes expanded skills, experience and knowledge in assessment, planning, implementation, diagnosis, and evaluation of the care required. Nurses practicing at this level are educationally prepared at post-graduate level and may work in a specialist or generalist capacity. However, the basis of advanced practice is the high degree of knowledge, skill and experience that is applied within the nurse-patient/client relationship to achieve optimal outcomes through critical analysis, problem solving, and evidenced based decision-making.
APRN forms the basis for the role of nurse practitioner. The nurse practitioner role is an expanded form of advanced practice nursing which is specifically regulated by legislation and by professional regulation. Legislation may allow prescribing and referral, in addition to admitting privileges to health care facilities.
About Physician Assistants (PAs)
PAs are medical clinicians licensed to practice medicine with supervision of a licensed. A physician assistant is concerned with preventing, maintaining, and treating human illness and injury by providing a broad range of health care services that are traditionally performed by a physician. Physician assistants conduct physical exams, diagnose and treat illnesses, order and interpret tests, counsel on preventive health care, assist in surgery, and write prescriptions.
Physician assistants exercise autonomy in medical decision making as determined by their supervising physician. Physician assistants are educated in the medical model designed to complement physician training. Physician assistants are not to be confused with, who perform administrative and simple clinical tasks with limited college-level education in hospitals and clinics under the direct supervision of registered nurses, nurse practitioners, or physician assistants. Physician assistants must graduate from an accredited, two-year program and pass the Physician Assistant National Certifying Examination to become a certified Physician Assistant (PA-C).
What can Advanced Practice Professionals offer?
•A Cost Effective Staffing Solution
Advanced Practice Nurses and Physician Assistants can see 80% of the patients that physicians do at one-third to one-half the expense.
•Increased Patient Satisfaction
Some surveys suggest patient satisfaction increases when patients are seen by an Advanced Practice Nurse or Physician Assistant, perhaps because they are often able to spend more time with the individual patient than a physician and work more consultatively with their patients to provide overall healthcare management.
•An Interdisciplinary Team Approach
Advanced Practice Professionals are part of a trend toward a collaborative model of healthcare delivery that utilizes an interdisciplinary team of Advanced Practice Nurses and Physician Assistants.
•Temporary Services
Advanced Practice Nurses and Physician Assistants offer their services on a Locum Tenens (temporary) basis in order to ease staff shortages around the country, including shortages at government facilities and in Healthcare Professional Shortage Areas.
View our Brochure * Locum Tenens Agreement * Contact Us
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