Differences in How an Advanced Professional Nurse Advocates for an At-Risk Population in the Community vs. How They Advocate for an Individual Patient in the Clinical Practice Setting

Differences in How an Advanced Professional Nurse Advocates for an At-Risk Population in the Community vs. How They Advocate for an Individual Patient in the Clinical Practice Setting

Advanced professional nurses (APRNs) advocate for at-risk populations in the community by influencing policies and legislation meant to improve the quality of life for the population. Notably, APRNs can share their insights and experiences with elected officials, policymakers, and the community regarding the well-being of an at-risk population which makes them key forces in the policy-making process (Villegas & Allen, 2012). Moreover, APRNs champion for fair and equitable social policies to help promote fairness, health equity, justice, and address social determinants of health. On the contrary, APRNs advocate for an individual patient in the clinical practice setting by enlightening interprofessional teams to deliver patient-centered, culturally competence, and evidence-based care to help optimize treatment outcomes (Nsiah et al. 2019). For instance, APRNs can champion for collaborative care between different teams by requesting for implementation of efficient electronic health records systems for ease of information traceability.

At the same time, APRNs advocate for at-risk populations in the community by championing for improvement of social determinants of life. For instance, this entails finding out why diabetes is more prevalent in a certain community and addressing the environmental and social conditions contributing to increased diabetes diagnosis rather than prescribing medication to the patients (Black, 2020). In other words, this requires APRNs to analyze experiences before persuading stakeholders to embrace the proposed changes. On the other hand, APRNs advocate for an individual patient in the clinical practice setting by collaborating with other care providers to optimize the quality of care and reducing challenges like medication errors and wrong diagnoses by ensuring they follow up on their patients. Nurses should not only foster collaboration but should also protect their patients from harm, communicate patient preferences, and provide key information to guide decision-making.