Discuss the values, attitudes, knowledge and skills that will contribute to your

Discuss the values, attitudes, knowledge and skills that will contribute to your success in an APN role and how you can break from your peer relationships in order to form new ones. Identify which of the MSN essential(s) this assignment meets.
Transitioning from the role of RN to APN will bring many challenges. There are skills and knowledge that this nurse has now that will assist with the adjustment phase. Some of the values this nurse currently demonstrates in the workplace when caring for individuals are respect for others, providing dignity, and showing compassion. This nurse displays a caring attitude and feelings of responsibility for the wellbeing of the patients in their care. Knowledge of disease processes and medications allow for this nurse to provide quality care in the RN role. These are all tools to take along during the transition to APN. In the advanced role, the practitioner has the obligation to manage the health of the patient in a more direct manner. As the task of deciding how to manage care becomes the new normal for this nurse, the attitude of caring and responsibility will positively affect the care the patient receives by ensuring all aspects of needs are met. This includes investigating deficits in the home environment, medication, or therapy knowledge, and then going beyond the RN role to order the needed images, labs, or procedures, or consult with interdisciplinarians to help meet those needs. Respecting the patient and their wishes is intertwined in both roles, but as the APN, the obligation to provide informed consent and counsel on disease processes and medications will take precedence as this will become the APN’s responsibility to provide the patient with as much information as possible to make a well-informed decision.
This nurse has been an RN for several years. The values, knowledge, and beliefs this nurse has about healthcare is directly related to her nursing role. Transitioning to an advanced practitioner will bring challenges in the transition phase of RN to APN. Having a good foundation of nursing knowledge and skill is key and will assist with growing professional relationships with advanced practice professionals by displaying competence. To form new relationships in the APN role, Kerr and Macaskill (2020) state having mentoring and group networking with other distinguished advanced professionals will ease the transition. The APN in training will need mentors and preceptors throughout the process of school and beyond to give feedback and support while learning the role (Kerr & Macaskill, 2020). As this nurse progresses through her training, the relationships with peers of today will transition into friendships. By socializing with a group of advanced practitioners, this nurse will begin to pick up new ways of thinking and new behaviors that will prepare her for her new role (Joel, 2022). This nurse plans to join national, state, and local nurse practitioners’ groups, such as the American Association of Nurse Practitioners, to network and form relationships while training for the role.
This assignment describes all the MSN essentials as the advanced role encompasses all 10 domains to provide the highest quality care for the public. The essentials this nurse believes are the most important, personally, are described below.
Person-centered care is the foundation for the values, attitudes, and knowledge for this nurse. Person-centered care is described as meeting the needs of the person, family, and community (American Association of Colleges of Nursing, 2023). To do this, the APN uses their foundational knowledge of nursing and expands upon it to meet the needs of others through utilizing clinical data, researching the needs not met, counseling, ordering and/or prescribing (Smith et al., 2022). Person-centered care is why all healthcare professionals do what they do. The role of APN exists to help bridge the gap between the RN role and advanced clinical competency to provide the individual and their families and communities with holistic care.
Knowledge for nursing practice is intertwined with person-centered care. Using skills developed in the RN role, such as screening, interpreting, and making nursing diagnoses for fall and pressure wound risk, goes beyond simple interventions in the APN role. The advanced professional must use clinical judgement, interpret research data, labs, or diagnostic imaging to adequately make a sound assessment (Mortimore et al., 2021). The APN uses her knowledge and experience as an RN and combines it with her advanced training to complete the circle of holistic health services. The advanced nurse may also involve other disciplinarians for consultation if needed and will be discussed below. Self-sufficiency and independence in making decisions about care is what separates the APN from the RN and is why the APN must have foundational knowledge and expertise in the role and hold themselves responsible for any decision made (Mortimore et al., 2022).
Interprofessional partnerships are necessary for providing quality care safely and competently. Forming positive relationships with other healthcare providers builds confidence with those clinicians in the APN’s ability to provide care and increases belief in oneself to provide that care (Smith et al., 2022). The APN my be consulted or be the consultee during an interprofessional relationship and the 10 domains of MSN essentials will become an integral part of clinical decision-making. It is imperative this APN in training begin building relationships with other providers now. During the training phase and beyond, this nurse will have the confidence in the clinical assessments they make through consulting and learning from others, and those providers learn to have confidence in the training APN as they teach and watch the nurse grow into her professional role. Eventually, the APN should be progressing towards proficiency and expertise in their role and will one day be a resource for their specialized discipline for other professionals to consult (Smith et al., 2022).
The hope of this APN in training is to utilize the core competencies of the advanced practitioner, learn from other advanced practitioners and providers, and network with these providers to become a competent, trustworthy, and safe practitioner.
Resources
American Association of Colleges of Nursing (2023, January). The essentials: Essentials domains. https://www.aacnnursing.org/Essentials/DomainsLinks to an external site.
Joel, L. A. (5th Ed.). (2022). Advanced practice nursing: Essentials for role development. F. A. Davis.
Kerr, L. & Macaskill, A. (2020). The journey from nurse to advanced nurse practitioner: Applying concepts of role transitioning. British Journal of Nursing, 29(10), 561-565. https://doi.org/10.12968/bjon.2020.29.10.561Links to an external site.
Mortimore, G., Reynolds, J., Forman, D., Brannigan, C., & Mitchell, K. (2021). From expert to advanced clinical practitioner and beyond. British Journal of Nursing, 30(11), 656–659. https://doi.org/10.12968/bjon.2021.30.11.656Links to an external site.
Smith, T. D., Vezina, M. L., Samost, M. E., & Reilly, K. (2022). Advanced practice nursing: Essentials for role development (L. A. Joel, 5th Ed.). F. A. Davis.