Introduction
Advanced nursing practice is a noteworthy professional area as well as a significant career step for any registered nurse. It requires a variety of diverse and highly developed skills from the medical professional. An advanced practice nurse has to be qualified in such fields as care practice, management, information assessment and interpretation, and theory of nursing. Consequently, this work aims to study various aspects of advanced nursing practice.
The Differences between Research and Evidence-Based Practice
Research
Research and evidence-based practice are two essential steps of nursing cognition. There are two fundamental differences between these approaches that nurses implement, namely, conceptual and methodological. According to LoBiondo-Wood and Haber (2017), “research is the systematic, rigorous, critical investigation that aims to answer questions about nursing phenomena” (p. 6). In research, one follows a scientific process, the elements of which may vary depending on the type of research. There are two conventional research types that are qualitative and quantitative (LoBiondo-Wood & Haber, 2017). However, each of these two categories also has common elements. They are problem identification and statement, literature review, research design, data collection, analysis, results making, and interpretation (LoBiondo-Wood & Haber, 2017). The findings of the study form evidence that is further applied in evidence-based practice.
Evidence-Based Practice
It can be said that evidence-based practice is a continuation of the research. AbuRuz, Hayeah, Al-Dweik, and Al-Akash (2017) note that it is “the integration of the best current evidence for the clinical decision-making process” (p. 1). Evidence-based practice has a single structure that consists of elements such as collecting relevant works, assessing information, integrating evidence, clinical expertise, and analysis of patients’ and their relatives’ values and preferences (LoBiondo-Wood & Haber, 2017). Each of the two described nursing learning steps is equally important, but evidence-based practice is impossible without research.
Health Care Information and Its Application
Health Care Information
The role of information in the healthcare industry continues to grow with the constant development of digital technologies. Topaz and Pruinelli (2017) argue that “big data is becoming increasingly more prevalent and it affects the way nurses learn, practice, conduct research and develop policy” (p. 165). The most important type of information in healthcare is patient records. Based on patient records, nurses develop the most effective and optimal approaches to care and improve existing methods (Forsvik et al., 2017). Medical professionals use electronic medical records and electronic health record systems to create, collect, and manage data (Forsvik et al., 2017). There are several methods for handling health care information. These are natural language processing, artificial intelligence, visualization, and data mining (Topaz & Pruinelli, 2017). The most common and popular method in nursing is the latter.
Data Mining, Patient Care Outcomes, Case Management and Utilization Management
As mentioned above, data mining is the most commonly used technology in nursing for interacting with information. Data mining helps specialists “to identify novel patterns that might otherwise remain unknown in large data sets and diverse data types” (Topaz & Pruinelli, p. 167). It is also useful in finding and explaining correlations and causation between data types describing different phenomena (Topaz & Pruinelli, p. 167). These functions are essential in utilization management, which deals with the quality of care, cost efficiency, and compliance. The patterns discovered through data mining allow nursing professionals to adjust and better the process of care and thereby improving patient care outcomes and nurses’ case management skills and performance.
Participation in Managed Care, Quality Care Initiatives, and Performance Indicators
Managed care is a system within Medicaid that aims to optimize the cost and quality of provided to recipients of care. Nurses involved in managed care perform functions such as “system navigation; service approvals; provider relations; customer service; case management;… and oversight” (Arora, Rochford, Todd, & Kaskie, 2020, p. 1). Quality care initiatives are needed where a significant care gap exists. Such nursing areas are fragility fracture care and prevention, acute care, and rehabilitation (Mitchell et al., 2019). These measures contribute to significant improvements in patient’s well-being and the prevention of symptoms and diseases. Performance indicators are used to assess quality care initiatives in particular and the entire care process in general. Performance indicators include many categories, such as response rate for safety culture, health care deficiencies, substantiated complaints, fines, and others (Li, Cen, Cai, & Temkin-Greener, 2019). Moreover, performance indicators allow nurses to identify further directions for improving their nursing practice.
Conclusion
In this paper, the author discusses various aspects of advanced practice nursing. Topics such as research, evidence-based practice, health care information, and its application through data mining were examined. There was described how this method of information interpretation influences case management and utilization management in nursing. This work also covers the topics of managed care, quality care initiatives, and performance indicators. An important mention is that seven academic works support the essay. Through this work, the author gained the necessary theoretical knowledge about the topic and realized the many responsibilities that advanced practice nurses face.
References
Arora, K., Rochford, H., Todd, K., & Kaskie, B. (2020). Medicaid Managed Care in Iowa: Experiences of older adults and people with disabilities. Disability and Health Journal. Web.
AbuRuz, M. E., Hayeah, H. A., Al-Dweik, G., & Al-Akash, H. Y. (2017). Knowledge, attitudes, and practice about evidence-based practice: A Jordanian study. Health Science Journal, 11(2), 1-8. Web.
Forsvik, H., Voipio, V., Lamminen, J., Doupi, P., Hyppönen, H., & Vuokko, R. (2017). Literature review of patient record structures from the physician’s perspective. Journal of Medical Systems, 41(2), 1-9. Web.
Li, Y., Cen, X., Cai, X., & Temkin-Greener, H. (2019). Perceived patient safety culture in nursing homes associated with “Nursing Home Compare” performance indicators. Medical Care, 57(8). Web.
LoBiondo-Wood, G., & Haber, J. (2017). Nursing research – e-book: Methods and critical appraisal for evidence-based practice. St. Louis, MO: Elsevier Health Sciences.
Mitchell, P. J., Cooper, C., Fujita, M., Halbout, P., Åkesson, K., Costa, M.,… & Javaid, M. K. (2019). Quality improvement initiatives in fragility fracture care and prevention. Current Osteoporosis Reports, 17(6), 510-520. Web.
Topaz, M., & Pruinelli, L. (2017). Big data and nursing: implications for the future. Studies in Health Technology and Informatics, 232, 165-171. Web.