Advanced Practice Nursing (APN) in Vietnam16/10/2017 13:56:40

Advanced Practice Nursing (APN) in Vietnam

The increasing demands of health care and the dramatic expansion of graduate nursing education and shortages of health care services escpecially rural and remote area, technological changes in health care needs and services influences the development of advanced practice nursing.

Advanced Practice Nursingis a umbrella term describing registered nurse holding either a master’s degree or a doctorate in nursing with expert knowledge, complex decision making skills, and competencies for advanced clinical practice the characteristics are shaped by the national context in which she/he is credentialed.

Their advanced training means they have greater levels of knowledge than their registered  Nurse counterparts, manifesting in greater decision-making ability and expertise in areas such as diagnosis and assessment, planning and implementation, evaluation of healthcare and record-keeping.

In an effort to reduce pressures related to clinical activity and high patient acuity, as well as to increase staff education, the role of the advanced practice nurse (APN) has been operationalized in many clinical settings. Role of the Advanced Practice Nurse in Vietnam in the future, include: diagnosing patients as they come in, performing physical exams, developing differential diagnoses, maintaining patient records and ensuring patient privacy and clinic or hospital compliance, care management, collaborative practice with medical doctors, working independently to provide care to low risk patients, evaluating patient progress and responsing to various treatments to modify treatment and care plans as necessary, providing counselsto patients and families, referring patients to other treatment facilities, providing consultations to patients who have not choose a course of action yet, dispensing medications to patients, participating in research studies.

APN can serve as knowledgeable advocates for patients and nurses in a palliative care setting. APN can serve as frontline nurses to carefully coordinate care and implement new strategies to provide services to patients as well as nurses. APN can assist staff nurses with complex patient care procedures, provide hands-on education at the bedside, and support staff in managing challenging situations. It is essential for APN to work collaboratively with nurse managers to have ideas accepted and enhance the professional development of staff. Perhaps the most important role of the APN is to serve as a mentor to novice nurses. This role may help to increase the comfort level of the novice nurse, which will increase job satisfaction and decrease chances of burnout.

From these roles, APN has brought many benefits in the Vietnamese health system: outcomes equivalent to medical doctor outcomes, lower patient care cost, shorter hospital stay, better patient satisfaction, fewer patient complications. So, APN provides safe, quality patient care.

Advanced practice nurses will be instrumental in the transformation of our health care system as a whole from a model based on expensive treatment to one of greater efficiency, with a strong emphasis on prevention. Nurses will be expected to lead, not to follow, this is a new direction.

References 

1. Royal College of Nursing. (2005). Maxi nurses: Advanced and spe- cialist nursing roles (No. 002 756). London: Royal College of Nursing.

2. Scott, c., Savage, J., Ashman, M., & Read, S. (2005). Evaluating the role of modern matrons. Nursing Management, 12(2), 22-26.

3. Sheer, B., & Wong, F. K. Y. (2008). The development of advanced nursing practice globally. Journal of Nursing Scholarship, 40(3), 204-211.

4. Sutton, F., & Smith, C. (1995). Advanced nursing practice: New ideas and new perspectives. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 21 (6), 1037-1043. 

                                                                                                                                                  Người viết: Ngô Thị Phương Hoài