Family Nursing Profession: A family nurse practitioner is an advanced practice nurse who has education and certification that allows them to provide care for families, which is usually provided in the home or in outpatient settings.
These individuals are usually board-certified nurses and have undergone specialized training in several different areas, including pediatric care and pediatric mental health.
The basic tenets of their work are beginning with a comprehensive evaluation, guiding the family through various treatment options to determine what will be best for the child’s needs, intervening with referrals when necessary, and researching effective methods for treating children.
The Family Nursing Profession and Why It Matters
The main goals of family nurse practitioners are to identify children with conditions and symptoms that require intervention and to help patients and families navigate the healthcare system. The primary role of the nurse practitioner is a consultant, educator, assessor, decision-maker, and clinician.
- As a consultant, they will provide information about health issues for children and teenagers.
- As an educator, they will teach parents how to take care of their children.
- As an assessor, they will determine if a patient needs further tests or treatment.
- As a decision maker, they will work through options with parents on what is best for their child.
- As a clinician, they will be able to treat patients themselves.
Family nurse practitioners are needed because there is a significant shortage of primary care providers today. This shortage has been attributed to several factors, including the great economic crisis in many countries and the growing trend of delaying the decision to begin training as a physician until after the age of 30.
There are also developments in medical technology that make it easier for individuals with no formal training in medicine to take care of patients without formally receiving training.
What You Need to Consider When Becoming a Family Nurse Practitioner
A family nurse practitioner (FNP) is an advanced practice nurse who completes the requirements for licensure, certification, and education and training to provide care for children, adults, and families.
Family nurse practitioners enter the profession by completing graduate education at an accredited nursing school, often nursing colleges in the U.S., Canada, or Australia.
In Canada, you can apply to become an authorized nurse practitioner using a collaborative agreement with one of the medical schools in that country. This may require completing an undergraduate degree and some graduate education in nursing.
To become an FNP, a qualified nurse must take a further qualification such as an online post master’s FNP program. These programs are also offered as stand-alone post-graduate courses at some institutions.
This is usually followed by experience of 4,000 hours under supervision in a facility with relevant expertise in family health services. In Australia, for instance, you will be required to complete at least 100 hours of supervised clinical time and 3,000 hours of supervised community practice time.
What Is It That Makes Family Nursing Different?
The need for specific family nursing practitioners is driven by the greater need for healthcare to diversify the approach to treatment.
This is driven by the aging population, with large numbers of people living longer and suffering from more chronic diseases, meaning more people will need care over a longer period.
This also means that services will be required to extend beyond the traditional hours available in most healthcare facilities.
The shortage of primary care providers is also driving the impetus for these services because there are simply not enough general practitioners to meet the need.
How to Improve Healthcare Using Family Nursing Professionals?
The need for family nurses has never been so great, with an aging population and a shortage of primary care providers. So, what can we do to improve healthcare using family nurses?
One of the major roles that family nurse practitioners can provide is to act as a consultant, educator, and assessor. They can work with individuals and families to educate them about their health issues, such as how diabetes works, or how they may be able better to manage a chronic condition, such as asthma.
They can also help teach families how to manage the symptoms of their illness more effectively, manage their disease while trying to lead normal lives, and plan for the future by understanding what sort of care they will need in older age.
They can also assist in improving the efficiency of a healthcare system by providing education about how it works and guiding patients to the most appropriate place to receive care.
Many patients today are reluctant to use medical services because of the high cost. Family nurse practitioners can help educate individuals about the nature and cost of healthcare and walk them through how their healthcare system works.
They will also be able to conduct research into new treatments, current best practices, and novel approaches that may offer better outcomes for individuals suffering from certain conditions.
In addition to the role of an educator, they can also serve as an assessor by determining if a patient needs further tests or treatment. They will be able to determine if a child is growing properly or if they may have a chronic condition that requires further testing.
Lastly, family nurses can act as clinicians and treat patients. With the help of their supervising physician, family nurses can provide advice about treatment options for specific conditions and help plan the course of care for each individual.
They will also be able to conduct physical examinations and treat minor medical conditions such as strep throat and other ailments that don’t require emergency services.
The Importance of Working with Trained Nurses for Families
Family nurse practitioners can complete the necessary education to care for children, adults, and families. While there is still some debate about the benefit of providing such advanced training to nurses who might otherwise not qualify for it, it is worth noting that these individuals are highly trained and will be able to fulfill the traditional role of a nurse.
However, family nurses offer more than this. Their advanced training enables them to provide expert health advice for patients in their most vulnerable years and offer guidance on how best to manage their health and that of their entire family.
As previously mentioned, these qualified nurses can act as consultants, assessors, educators, and clinicians – bringing all this expertise to bear and working with the whole family to save money on healthcare costs and improve overall health outcomes.
In addition to providing primary care services, this type of training enables family nurses to offer preventative advice on issues such as diet and exercise, stress management techniques, and support groups and to help plan advanced healthcare services when the time comes.
Finally, their advanced training allows them to provide services beyond those provided by general practitioners because it enables them to offer consultations that focus solely on personal health issues. In this way, they can take their experience and the knowledge gained in their graduate nursing programs and apply it to issues concerning the whole family.
Finding New Ways to Promote This Profession
Family nurse practitioners are one of the fastest-growing professional nurse specialties in the US.
That means there is a shortage of these professionals, meaning that people with caregiving needs have to go without reasonable healthcare and treatment.
The good news is that there are ways to alleviate this shortage and improve access to health care for families.
One of these ways, as mentioned above, is through the medical education these nurses complete. This is an important part of their education, but it isn’t the only part.
These professionals are also required to complete additional training that enables them to conduct research and serve as consultants, educators, and clinicians.
Additionally, they must pass a licensing exam that proves they have the necessary knowledge and skills to work effectively as a family nurse practitioner. The certification board provides this for this profession.
As far as the requirements are concerned, they are not particularly onerous, but they need to be completed to work in this profession. The mean time required is 3-5 years of training and 20-40 hours per week of practice.
In addition to obtaining advanced education, there are also other ways that individuals interested in working as family nurses can gain the knowledge necessary to work effectively in this role.
Most family nurses will not pursue specialty training further than the required standards, so they can take advantage of this. To ensure doctors are providing adequate care, these nurses should regularly complete reviews and assessments of what is happening in their patients’ lives and ensure they receive adequate care.
To help families maintain their health and prevent medical emergencies when they arise, these nurses can also assist with planning for long-term care by consulting with doctors on what sort of care a patient would need when they reach older age.
Family Nurses Can Help Families Fight Against Disease
Families that manage their healthcare can save money by keeping a close eye on their finances and taking advantage of any available tax benefits. They should also consider seeking out affordable health plans and medical providers.
Family nurse practitioners can provide these services for families because of the above qualifications and additional training.
These nurses are also able to work with physicians to treat patients independently. This way, they can help families get the care they need without paying for expensive specialists.
Additionally, as mentioned above, family nurses can educate patients on improving their diets, managing stress, and strengthening their overall health. They can also offer support concerning any long-term conditions or chronic illnesses a patient may have.
This way, they can provide the knowledge necessary for families to maintain good health despite high medical costs and limited healthcare options.
Family Nurses Can Help Families Avoid Long-Term Medical Issues
Family nurse practitioners can also help families avoid long-term medical issues. They can provide preventative care advice and education on health issues such as diet, stress, and exercise.
In this way, they can ensure that families are avoiding unnecessary medical procedures and help prevent medical complications before they ever happen.
Additionally, these professionals can help families develop a proper routine for maintaining their health by offering free consultations on better care for themselves. They can also help families plan for longer-term care when the time comes.
They can provide patients with recommendations that will allow them to accept or refuse treatment options without regard to cost or the effectiveness of the treatment itself.
This way, they can help families save money on medical bills and live with dignity while aging.
Family Nurses Can Help Families Create a Care Plan for the Future
Family nurse practitioners are also able to help families plan for the future. This is particularly helpful when a family needs to make end-of-life decisions and coordinate the best care at home or in a nursing home.
This can be extremely helpful for families that need assistance taking care of their loved ones but don’t have sufficient resources to bring in specialists for these tasks.
Family doctors cannot always provide appropriate care for an older patient, and family members can sometimes struggle to take care of their loved ones at home.
In this way, family nurses can provide end-of-life care recommendations, assist in transferring patients to the proper facilities, and develop a plan for the ultimate care of the patient.
They can also ensure that a patient’s wishes are honored in their death or other final stages of cancer treatment if they cannot make decisions alone.
This includes ensuring that any end-of-life instructions from a doctor or loved one are followed through without any disagreement from doctors or family members.
These nurses can provide guidance on how to handle such situations and ensure that patients feel as comfortable as possible during their last days or hours.
Conclusion
Family nurse practitioners are a new type of advanced practice nurse that can provide families with the necessary care as a family doctor.
They can offer medical advice and education on improving overall health and help these families plan for future medical issues.
They can also assist with end-of-life care, including transferring patients to the proper facilities and helping coordinate a plan for what will happen during end-of-life care.
Families that need assistance with providing long-term care or managing chronic illnesses may find that working with a family nurse practitioner can save them significant time, money, and stress.
