Advanced Practice Nurse
To dissect the background of guidance and coaching we should first review why this topic is of such great importance. Registered Nurses and Advanced Practice Nurses are now charged with focusing on prevention and early interventions to promote healthy lifestyles, prevent chronic diseases (Hamric, Hanson, Tracy & O’Grady, 2014). The six characteristics of the Advanced Practice Nurse (APN) are based on the historical values of nursing care taught in nursing school. Taking a holistic approach in caring teaches Advanced Practice Nurses to look at the patient’s life with a wider lens, to incorporate the environmental attributes into plan for wellness. This approach allows for insight on how to guide the patients plan of care. The Advanced Practice Nurse must consider that a cookie cutter plan for each patient will not work for all patients, it must be individualized. The APN should form a therapeutic relationship with the patient so that trust can be built, this will allow for the patient to open up more during the assessment. One should also remember to be sensitive to cultural differences during this approach. The difference in the APN coaching and guidance from the Registered Nurse (RN) are, the Advanced Practice Nurse will incorporate more evidence-based practice (Hamric et.al., 2014).
Every ten years the Healthy People initiative develops new objectives for the promotion of prevention in health. One of the objectives for Healthy People 2020 is health communication (Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, 2017). For individuals, effective health communication can help raise their awareness of health risks and solutions, provide motivation and skills needed to reduce these risks (Healthy People 2010). This focus on prevention and outcomes is why the six characteristics of direct clinical care by APN’s are important to develop. It allows for improved communication with patients, which improves outcomes according to Healthy People 2020. Improved communications can allow Advanced Practice Nurse to guide and coach their patients with more success.
