Essay Example on Becoming a Family Nurse Practitioner: My Journey to Serve

Introduction

Family nurse practitioner abbreviated as FNPs is a profession of great importance to diverse communities. Members of the family nurse practitioner must be graduates who are both nationally and state-certified and licensed to give care medically to stable patients across the age groups. Therefore, practicing nurses in this group are obliged to earn their certifications and render nursing services to specialized patient populations.

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As a practicum nurse, I have developed the urge to serve this population (families) with great enthusiasm and passion that calls for clinical reasoning. Indeed clinical reasoning becomes a critical backbone of a family nurse practitioner (Carvalho et al., 2017). Ideally, as I consider the act of care to an individual, data collection regarding the condition of the patient dictated the choices and judgment I make. Believing that judgment and reasoning refer to discriminative and flexible means of recognizing relevant patient data, the nurse on practicum a set of skills learned to and attitudes to reach clinical reasoning.

To reach to clear reasoning regarding an action to take, the nurse has to execute the use of cognitive skills (analysis, information seeking, discrimination, inference, interpretation and transformation of knowledge), behavioral skills (open-mindedness, systematization, self-confidence, and analysis) and mental habits (confidence, flexibility, creativity, intellectual integrity, and intuition) to reach the set goal (Carvalho et al., 2017). Developing the mentioned skills is arguably critical to the nurse to reach clear clinical reasoning, which includes an integration of deciding on which practice best fit a condition at hand.

Importance of Advanced Knowledge

As mentioned earlier, the family nurse practitioner must have advanced knowledge for a better understanding of the nursing roles. As such, the first advanced knowledge is physical assessment, also referred to as clinical assessment (Carvalho et al., 2017). Family nurse practitioner relies to a great extent proper gathering and interpretation of the relevant objective and subjective data amongst which include a physical evaluation. This is the primary source of data in which four techniques are employed: percussion, auscultation, palpation, and inspection. Secondly, pathophysiological knowledge is essential during family nursing practitioners because it fosters a strong foundation in nursing (Clayton & Willihnganz, 2013). Through pathophysiology, the nurse can order diagnostic tests, manage medications, treat both chronic and acute illnesses, and provide general healthcare to patients and families.

Conclusion

Finally, the knowledge of pharmacology is crucial in family nurse practitioners. During the training, a nurse is required to oblige to the protection of the patient while also fulfilling the oath to not harm them. This requires the nurse to understand the action they are yet to take, for instance, being well-versed in drugs and when to administer them using the right methods (Freed et al., 2010).

References

Carvalho, E. C. D., Oliveira-Kumakura, A. R. D. S., & Morais, S. C. R. V. (2017). Clinical reasoning in nursing: teaching strategies and assessment tools. Revista brasileira de enfermagem, 70(3), 662-668. https://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0034-71672017000300662

Clayton, B. D., & Willihnganz, M. (2013). Basic Pharmacology for Nurses16: Basic Pharmacology for Nurses. Elsevier Health Sciences. https://study.com/academy/lesson/pharmacology-principles-for-nurses.html

Freed, G. L., Dunham, K. M., Loveland-Cherry, C., Martyn, K. K., & American Board of Pediatrics Research Advisory Committee. (2010). Family nurse practitioners: roles and scope of practice in the care of pediatric patients. Pediatrics, 126(5), 861-864. https://nursejournal.org/family-practice/role-scope-of-practice-of-a-family-nurse-practitioner/