Revista de Práticas Avançadas em Enfermagem

Healthcare reform is a pressing issue in today's rapidly evolving healthcare landscape. Advanced Practice Nurses (APNs) are at the forefront of patient care, witnessing firsthand the challenges and disparities within the healthcare system. With their unique expertise, advanced education, and direct patient interactions, APNs play a pivotal role in advocating for policy change to improve healthcare access, quality, and outcomes. This article explores the essential role of APNs in advocating for policy change, the impact of their advocacy efforts, and the strategies they can employ to drive meaningful healthcare reform. Advanced Practice Nurses comprise a diverse group of highly skilled and educated professionals, including nurse practitioners, clinical nurse specialists, certified nurse-midwives, and certified registered nurse anesthetists. These clinicians have advanced degrees and specialized training, enabling them to provide a wide range of healthcare services, often with a focus on primary care, specialized care, and health promotion. APNs play a crucial role in the healthcare system by providing patient-centered, evidence-based care, and collaborating with other healthcare professionals to deliver comprehensive services. With their strong clinical acumen and holistic approach to patient care, APNs are uniquely positioned to identify healthcare system inefficiencies, disparities, and areas for improvement.

Health disparities, defined as differences in health outcomes between different populations, remain a significant challenge in healthcare systems worldwide. These disparities are often influenced by socioeconomic factors, race, ethnicity, geographic location, and access to healthcare services. Advanced Practice Nurses (APNs) play a crucial role in addressing health disparities and promoting health equity. With their diverse skill set, holistic approach to care, and patient-centered focus, APNs are well-positioned to bridge the gap and improve healthcare outcomes for marginalized and underserved communities. This article explores the essential role of Advanced Practice Nurses in addressing health disparities and fostering health equity. Cultural competence is a cornerstone of effective healthcare delivery for diverse populations. APNs must strive to understand and respect the cultural backgrounds, beliefs, and values of their patients. By acknowledging and embracing cultural diversity, APNs can establish trustful relationships, improve communication, and tailor care plans to meet the specific needs of each patient. Culturally competent care ensures that healthcare services are delivered in a manner that aligns with patients' preferences, promoting better health outcomes.

In modern healthcare, providing comprehensive and patient-centered care requires the collaboration of diverse healthcare professionals. Collaborative care models emphasize the importance of interprofessional teamwork to deliver effective, efficient, and high-quality healthcare services. This article explores the significance of collaborative care models, the role of APNs in interprofessional teamwork, and the benefits of collaborative care for patients and the healthcare system. Collaborative care models involve the integration of various healthcare professionals, such as physicians, nurses, pharmacists, social workers, and other specialists, working together to provide holistic and coordinated care to patients. These models recognize that each healthcare professional brings unique expertise to the team, and effective collaboration optimizes patient care outcomes. Collaborative teams can address patients' medical, emotional, and social needs comprehensively. By working together, team members can develop comprehensive care plans that consider all aspects of a patient's health. Collaborative care places the patient at the center of decision-making. By involving patients in care planning and empowering them to actively participate in their treatment, healthcare providers can enhance patient satisfaction and engagement. Collaboration allows for efficient use of resources and expertise. Each team member can contribute their unique skills, resulting in more streamlined and effective healthcare delivery.

Nurse-led clinics in the United Kingdom (UK) are not new. It was irst endorse by the government in 1990s in a variety of document including making a difference and the chief nursing officer’s 10 key roles for nurses. In addition the NHS Plan charge management to make a change and respond to the government’s strategy for nursing and midwifery to introduce new ways of working for to improve service delivery by injecting quality care and treatment. Nurse-led lacrimal clinic has the potential to offer a valuable contribution through increase patient low, improve cost efficiency and create opportunities for nurses to develop new skills. With increasingly healthcare burdened e.g. funding limitations, staff shortages there was a need to streamline services and improve patient low and efficiency. Signi icantly, a huge proportion of patients referred to the lacrimal clinic were considered to be likely suitable for nurse-led assessment and management. The nurse-led lacrimal clinic at moor ields eye hospital is the irst is the United Kingdom to manage the condition epiphora or watering of the eye.

Education and training are terms closely related due to the similar objectives. As education strives to equip the learner with the primary skills and knowledge for handling wide array of tasks, training cares for the skills for particular job tasks. However, education and training do not stand on different islands. They complement each other, because, as there is a significant relationship between educational attainment and on-job-training. Education empowers and opens chances for the provision of the on-job-training (also referred to as the employer provided training) activities. In addition, there is an empirical regularity in the training that the educated individuals get as compared to the less educated counterparts.