Nurse Practitioners and Nurse Anesthetists

Description:

As the only book of its kind, this publication provides students, clinicians, researchers, ministries of health, and others with a valuable, thorough, and focused understanding of the development of the nurse practitioner (NP) and nurse anesthetist (NA), two advanced practice nursing roles which have improved access to care and healthcare outcomes as bilateral role development has progressed internationally.  As the two roles have significant clinical differences, the book will appraise each role separately within two sections utilizing different approaches.  After a thorough platform of defining and describing each role, including history and origins, education, practice, regulation, and leadership, the book guides by example, utilizing unique country case studies divided by WHO regions as exemplars for international role development as well as an outlook for the future of advanced practice nursing on the global stage.  The book expands on the tenets and principles as outlined in the ICN Guidelines on Advanced Practice Nursing for Nurse Practitioners (2020) and Nurse Anesthetists (2021), providing the reader with an internationally vetted and accepted comprehension of the roles, guiding and inspiring future role development to improve global health care.

Preface

Through the generations, nurses have provided compassionate care through calamities including wars, famine, natural disasters as well as tending to the needs of those individuals who would otherwise go without care and succumb to illness and injuries.

The history of the global evolution of nursing begins at the dawn of time. To the modern observer, it is unfathomable to recognize the times in which nurses were not allowed to use a stethoscope, give an injection, or draw blood. Those tasks, and countless more, were historically deemed as part of the role of physicians. In the twenty-first century, the role of the nurse has grown and expanded to meet the healthcare needs of communities around the world. Advanced practice nursing (APN) has increasingly allowed nurses to practice to the full scope of their education and competencies. This includes the ability to assess, diagnose, treat, prescribe, provide anesthesia, anesthesia-related care and pain management for patients of all ages across the healthcare spectrum. The education and recognition of APNs whose competencies include complex decision-making with advanced skills and care management has resulted in nursing-led transformative care which has improved healthcare access and outcomes globally. Nurses are the largest segment of the healthcare workforce. Numerous research studies have proven that utilization of APNs allows for increased access to quality care. No prior texts have successfully chronicled the multiple aspects of these two APN roles while providing detailed illustrations of the roles’ infancy and growth in countries throughout the world.

In 1877, the first nurse to specialize in anesthesia care paved the way for advanced practice nursing, and in 1965, the first nurse practitioner educational program was founded. Throughout early history, many brave pioneers made contributions which spearheaded nursing to be an essential and foundational role in healthcare. In Nurse Practitioners and Nurse Anesthetists: The Evolution of the Global Roles, the reader will gain insight into the history of these two transformative and impactful APN roles through the contributions of international authors who represent every World Health Organization Region of the world. Topics of discussion include licensure, practice, education, research, challenges, and impacts of these advanced practice roles.

Analysis of global role development illustrates the influence on healthcare from disasters to battlefields; clinical practice in urban and remote environments; the evolution of academic education growth and opportunities, as well as Nurse

Practitioner and Nurse Anesthetist roles as educators, researchers, and leaders. Role development varies between countries and geographical areas based on economic resources, available education, and governmental regulation and recognition. Admittedly, countries have varied levels of acceptance and incorporation into the healthcare system fiber. Throughout history, nurses have faced many challenges to their ability to practice to the full scope of their education, training, and competencies. These challenges continue today and hinder the advancement of nursing to its full potential in nearly all countries and all practice settings. It is our hope that this book will not only provide the reader with a detailed view of the contributions of Nurse Practitioners and Nurse Anesthetists to global health, but will also result in progression of the roles through removal of unnecessary burdens and barriers to practice, allowing patients access to essential healthcare services including increased access to anesthesia and surgical services.