Role and Responsibilities of Advanced Nursing Practice in Aged Care

Running head: NURSING ASSIGNMENT
NURSING ASSIGNMENT
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author Note:

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Introduction:
The aged care department constitutes elderly patients who are diagnosed with
complex disorders (Brownie et al., 2013). It should be noted here that health professionals
play an integral role in providing support services to the elderly patients. Patients who are 60
years and older and require assistance with multiple health complications forms the elderly
patient base (Conolly et al.,2014). The hospitalization rate of the elderly patients are on the
increase and in order to deal with the higher rate of hospitalization the workforce is not
appropriate (Buchele et al., 2014). This precisely highlights the need of advanced nursing
professionals in the geriatric unit across health care organizations to deal with the issue. I can
deeply associate my feelings with the elderly people and I have always wanted to serve them
so as to enhance their standard of living. This precisely explains why I have chosen ‘aged
care’ as my area of career interest. At present, I am working as a registered nurse in the aged
care department of a private hospital. In future, I would like to assume the role of an
advanced nursing practitioner specializing in the domain of aged care. According to Conolly
et al. (2014), advanced nursing practice in Gerontology focuses upon health screening,
counselling and devising comprehensive intervention for the elderly people. Advanced
practitioners serve as important advocates who regulate the optimum utilization of the
available resources and make appropriate referrals to promote continuity of care in the elderly
(Dunphy et al.,2014).
This paper would deal with the discussion of the role and responsibilities in relation to
advanced nursing practice in aged care. It would discuss in detail the standards of practices
associated with the designation both in context of the national as well as the international
nursing standards. It would also present in detail the implication of the advanced nursing
practice in the field of nursing. The further sections of the essay would detail a clear

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description and an evaluation of my role as an advanced nurse practitioner at my current
work place.
Content and Literature
The role of advanced nursing practice in the context of aged care involves rendering
quality services to enhance the standard of living at the terminal stage of life. The aged care
or the geriatric unit requires care professionals to be sensitive, skilled and proactive so as to
render assist patients with effective care. According to Bauer et al. (2014), it has been
specified that the role of advanced nursing practice in the field of geriatric care can help in
the promotion of quality outcomes. The research study comprised of a systematic review that
investigated the effectiveness and utility of advanced nursing practice in the aged care unit
(Bauer et al., 2014). The findings interestingly revealed that long term care settings that were
managed by advanced nurse practitioners presented lower rates of depression and aggressive
behaviour among the patients (Bauer et al., 2014).
Further, the organization also presented lower rates of urinary incontinence, restraint
use and pressure ulcers among the in-patients. It should further be noted in this regard that the
family members of the concerned patient also expressed increased level of satisfaction in
relation to the services offered. On critically considering the number of aged individuals
being placed into critical care, it can be said that the population of the elderly people are
increasing on a significant scale (Brownie & Nancarrow, 2013). This in turn is creating a
pressure on the health care organizations to maintain pace with the increasing patient
demands without compromising the quality of care. Research studies have suggested that
advanced nursing practices within long-term care can incorporate provision for staff
education, effective decision making and design support programs to facilitate positive
outcomes (Buchele et al., 2014); (Conolly et al., 2014).

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Advanced nursing care has been considered as an effective approach that helps in the
caring process of elderly patients with mental health disorders such as dementia. According
to Clissett et al. (2013), implementation of person centred care can effectively help in
building a therapeutic relationship with the patients during the long stay settings. Another
integral aspect of aged care that must be taken into consideration include the incidences of
multi-morbidity and complex chronic illness that affects the ageing population. .In order to
deal with the complexity of the disorder it is important to continuously upgrade the structure
and quality of the services provided to the elderly patients (De Gendt et al., 2013). The
structural reform would require a set of skilled and experienced nurses who would effectively
participate in the care process to a significant extent and alleviate the critical decision making
process. Research studies have stated that the engagement of advanced nursing professionals
within the Emergency and critical care unit of the healthcare organizations yield higher rates
of patient satisfaction level (Donald et al., 2013); (Dunphy et al., 2014).
The inclusion of advanced nursing professionals within the healthcare system has
been tightly linked with an improved experience during the length of stay (Fagerstrom,
2012). It has also been associated with improved treatment procedure and time of patient
counselling or consultation. Further, the role of advanced nursing has been studied to
alleviate the patient satisfaction level and also contribute positively towards medical cost
savings. Hence, on the basis of the evidences gathered from the studies, it can be remarked
that the role of advanced nursing professionals in providing critical care is emerging out to be
inevitable.
The aged care providers must comply with the quality standards so as to deliver
excellent service delivery. In this regard, it should be mentioned that the Quality Agency, is
responsible for the accreditation, reviewing and continuous monitoring of the concerned
service providers so as to ensure quality care to the aged people who opt for the subsidised