MSN Specializations at Walden University - Research Paper

Introduction

The Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) at Walden University falls into two distinct specialization categories. These two categories are a nurse practitioner and specialty practice. The nurse practitioner encompasses disciplines such as the Family Nurse, Psychiatric and Mental Health, Adult-Gerontology Acute, and Primary Care Nurse practitioner. Specialty practice, on the other hand, encompasses Public Health Nursing, Nurse Executive, Nursing Education, and Nursing Informatics.

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All these MSN specialty deals with enhancing the well-being of patients, providing the patients with equal opportunity for health improvement. The nurse practitioner specialty deals mainly with the provision of direct care to the patients. The primary role of individuals in this field is to ensure that patients are at good hands by providing all the essential needs of the patients. They play the roles of actual caregivers in the medical and social centers as well as other institutions such as the elderly homes. Therefore, nurse practitioners have the basic facts about the needs of the patients as they are in consistent contact with these patients.

An individual willing to be in the nurse practitioner specialty must pursue any of the four disciplines mentioned above for certification. Under this category, the family nurse practitioners provide health care to general family needs, psychiatric and mental health nurse work with mental health patients, while the adult-gerontology give healthcare to the aged. The specialty category, on the other hand, is more of a managerial position. They are in the leadership position providing educational care related to the critical areas of nursing and healthcare. The Family Nurse Practitioner is my selected practitioner. The second most preferred specialty is psychiatric and mental health nursing.

Family Nurse Practitioner is in direct contact with the dire needs of the patients. The specialty helps the patients at all levels of the society providing care to all the family members. The MSN category offers essential education for the nurse in the field. Therefore, pursuing this MSN specialty puts a nurse in a position where they can best serve the patients. The selection of the specialty was a careful and thoughtful process of trying to balance my interests and passion for the profession as well as the capacity with which I can best serve the community around. The family nurse and psychiatric and mental health nursing were possible dilemmas in the selection of my career path. I have always wanted to serve in these two capacities. However, the decision to stick to the family nurse practitioner was as a result of the dire need of the nurse in this capacity at the community level.

The colleagues' feedback from the discussion forum was primarily based on the suitability of my personality and traits to the specialty. While some argued that I am better suited to help patients in this capacity, others state that I could serve better in the specialty practice in nurse education as an educator based on my communication capabilities and the ability to interact with people and explain concepts. However, I have always desired to help the patients, those who are suffering, to get better. Therefore, I firmly believe I am in the best specialty.

American Association of Nursing Practitioners (AANPs) is a professional body bringing together nursing practitioners. The association offers relevant career guides to the student nurses in their paths towards health care provision. Additionally, they provide career support to their members. One becomes a member after the successful completion of the nursing practitioner program. In addition to that, a person must be serving as an active and certified nurse practitioner in any specialty or capacity. One becomes a member upon submission and acceptance of an application.