Dr Jan Towers on Nurse Practitioning: "This is Not Traditional Nursing"
Exclusive Interview: Jan Towers, PhD, NP-C, CRNP, FAANP, FAAN, Director of Health Policy for the AANP
Jan Towers, PhD, NP-C, CRNP, FAANP, FAAN, hasn't just watched the role of a nurse practitioner blossom over the years--she's helped nurture it. Now the Director of Health Policy for the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners, Dr Towers has been an active participant in health policy at the national and state level for over two and half decades, working to facilitate suitable regulation and support for nurse practitioner practice.
"I still clinically practice, although my main area is health policy," says Dr Towers, who's worked as a family nurse practitioner at Health Care for the Homeless in Frederick, Maryland, in addition to various other clinical nurse practitioner roles.
Dr Towers has been closely involved with current debate around the health care reform bill, and was recently invited by the Obama administration to share her thoughts on how the utilization of nurse practitioners will develop if the bill is passed. She hopes that if the health care reform bill goes through, it will pave the way for nurse practitioners to have greater autonomy and be able to function more smoothly.
If so, it'll be a far cry from the early days of nurse practitioning. "I remember we were sort of sticking our necks out and doing things, we were really pushing the envelope," she reminisces. "I loved it, but at first I was reluctant because I didn't want somebody to come and say I couldn't do this anymore."
The first nurse practitioner educational program was developed in 1965, with the early focus being on pediatrics. Over the next decade, dozens of nurse practitioner specialties sprung up, and by the late 1970s, around 15,000 nurse practitioners were practicing. Today, there are nine times that number practicing, and it's growing every year. "As we've grown, from a few hundred to 135,000," Dr Towers says, "the amount of responsibility and the ability to function has increased."
For example, early nurse practitioners were not allowed to prescribe controlled substances, and they worked closely with physicians. Today, nurse practitioners run their own clinics, are primary care providers for patients over the entire lifespan, and are active in every nursing specialty.
"Just watching that growth it's clear there was a need for someone like us or we'd never have grown the way we did," says Dr Towers points out.
As the role of the nurse practitioner has grown, it's become more defined. In 1985 and 1987, general scope and standards documents for nurse practitioners were published for the first time by the ANA Council of Primary Care Nurse Practitioners. In the decades since, educational and practice standards have come under close scrutiny. Modern nurse practitioners enter the workforce with a clearer sense of their role, and they can look to established nurses to guide their early steps.
"One of the things we try to do with our old nurse practitioners is try and have them mentor new ones so they can adapt to the role quickly," Dr. Towers says. For new nurse practitioners, she suggests actively seeking out a good mentor. Guidance from an experienced nurse, Dr Towers says, can play a strong part in successfully navigating the early challenges of your career.
Is nurse practitioning for every nurse? Not necessarily, says Dr Towers. "It does take a certain kind of person to be interested and go on and get a graduate degree. There's a significant increase of responsibility too."
But nurse practitioners simply have to embrace their growing autonomy, Dr Towers says. "This is not traditional nursing where you take orders. You have to be able to assess and problem-solve."
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[...] That Require An MSN Degree What’s the Difference Between a Doctor and a Nurse Practitioner? Dr Jan Towers on Nurse Practitioning: “This is Not Traditional Nursing” Nurse Practitioner Perspectives on the Future of Health [...]
[...] That Require An MSN Degree What’s the Difference Between a Doctor and a Nurse Practitioner? Dr Jan Towers on Nurse Practitioning: “This is Not Traditional Nursing” Nurse Practitioner Perspectives on the Future of Health Care Nurse Practitioner Career [...]
Informative Post ! Thanks for sharing.