Leadership and Management in the Changing Health Care Environment
NU420-02
August 11, 2013
The future of nursing is evolving at a rapid rate due to a changing health care environment. Nursing practice and leadership must adapt to these changes through ingenuity and advanced practice professional roles. “With an estimated 32 million newly insured Americans set to have health care coverage by 2014, and a predicted shortfall of 40,000 primary-care physicians by 2020, market forces have virtually dictated that more frontline providers are essential to the sustainability of our nation 's health care system” (Brocato, 2010, para. 1). In order to mend the projected shortfall of primary-care physicians, the role of nurse practitioner must evolve with increased autonomy with a broader spectrum of ditties and responsibilities. This change must occur because more physicians are moving into specialized fields and the need for primary care physicians will be supplemented by the nurse practitioner.
The key stakeholders involved in the changing role of the nurse practitioner are those needing primary healthcare, now and in the future. “According to the American Association of Colleges of Nursing, about two-thirds of the more than 140,000 nurse practitioners in the United States practice …show more content…
One of the greatest barriers faced by the nurse practitioner is inconsistency of state laws influencing their scope of practice. Until nurse practitioners are held at the same standard in all states, the seriousness of their professional role cannot be revered. “Multiple research studies indicate that primary care services and management of acute illnesses and chronic diseases can be effectively provided by an APN, with positive patient outcomes that are reflective of a physicians’ care” (Nurse Future, 2012, para.