NR 510 Week 1: Barriers to Practice

NR 510 Week 1: Barriers to Practice

The barriers to APN practice that were identified in the article are state practice and licensure, physician related issues, job satisfaction, payer policies and not being allowed to follow patients who are admitted to acute care facilities (Hain &Fleck, 2014).

These barriers to me mean that APN are restricted in their practice. They do not get to practice to the best of their education. I do feel that in the beginning there does need to be some guidance from a physician. The barriers can cause dissatisfaction with the job because of the amount of control taken from the APN regarding their decisions with their patients. This should be done in the first five years or so of practice. This would give the ANP the guidance needed while caring for patients. These barriers also mean the ANP does not get the same compensation as does a physician and payers will not pay at the same rate as they would for a patient being seen by a physician.

These barriers are not new to me nor do they come as a surprise. I have spoken with a few FNPs who have mentioned the fact that they are restricted to a certain extent. When working in the emergency room a lot of times the APNs would only be allowed to work on the lower acuity patients. In the event that there was someone who ended up being a higher acuity the APN would have to go to the physician for their opinion. This I did not see as a bad thing. It is always good to have the extra resource which can provide an additional set of eyes and knowledge for a situation. These restrictions do not concern me currently. I feel my motivation is seeing how certain physicians welcome the APN and are willing to work with them. Many I have seen give the APN more room to do their thing once they gain confidence in the APN.

These barriers do represent restraint of trade. They do not allow the APN to see patients and prescribe medications without restrictions. They have rules and regulations that restrict them and only allow them to practice in certain ways.

Nurses can influence these barriers by forming organizati0ons to appeal to their states about the way they are allowed to practice. To do this they will need to research and provide data stating the care they give, and the care given by physicians. They will need evidence about practices to be able to change the minds and get regulations changed. This will not be an overnight process, so they will also need to be willing to commit to making a change over years.