Running head: INSIGHTS OF A NURSE PRACTITIONER

An Insight into the Career of a Nurse Practitioner

Ann Grams
Ferris State University

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Introduction
As a registered nurse, there are many different paths one can take to advance their career.
Further education and experience allows an individual to explore new areas of nursing and
develop new skills along their journey. The purpose of this paper is to summarize an interview
held with a practicing specialty nurse. Luanne Parks, a Nurse Practitioner (NP) who works in an
acute care setting in Big Rapids, has many years of experience working in various environments
in her advanced nursing role. Talking with Luanne allowed me the opportunity to learn more
about what it takes to become a Nurse Practitioner and the responsibilities and experiences you
gain in an advanced role in nursing.
Understanding the Role of a Nurse Practitioner
Obtaining a graduate level education in nursing provides nurses with increased
knowledge and opportunity to advance their career. Along with this advanced knowledge comes
new experiences and more responsibility for the nurse. Each healthcare setting a NP may work in
requires them to assume different responsibilities and perform unique job duties. Nurse
Practitioners in acute care settings provide medical and nursing care to patients and families
experiencing complex health conditions (Klienpell, 2005 (as cited in Doran, Kilpatrick, LavoieTremblay, Lamothe, & Ritchie, 2012, p.1)).
Before working at Spectrum Health Big Rapids, I did not have any idea Nurse
Practitioners were able to practice in an acute care setting. As an RN with only two and a half
years of experience on a Med-Surg floor, I had never heard of an NP that was able to admit or
treat individuals on an inpatient floor. I had only known Physicians and Physician Assistants
(PA) to have this advanced capability. A few years ago, Spectrum Health hired Luanne and a PA

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to work as our night shift Hospitalists. The hospitalist is a healthcare professional who is
present with us nurses in the hospital and able to diagnosis, admit, treat, transfer and discharge
patients.
Throughout nursing school, it was never presented that NPs had these greater capabilities
of working on a floor such as Med-Surg. My assumptions were that NPs only worked in
Physician offices and specialty practices because that is all that I had heard of. I am very
interested in learning more about advanced roles in nursing, such as a NP. There are so many
areas I have yet to discover in nursing and I am sure many more doors will open to these
discoveries after graduate school.
Methodology
At Spectrum Health Big Rapids Hospital there are very few advanced practice nurses.
Luanne is the only NP that works on the Medical Surgical floor and I have the opportunity to
work with her there. I have always talked to Luanne and know a little about her background, but
I was curious to know more about her journey in becoming an NP.
Luanne and I were able to sit down face to face during our shift break one night and
really talk about the experiences and goals of her nursing career. The personal interview lasted
about thirty minutes and consisted of myself asking pre-established questions as well as
spontaneous questions that arose after listening to Luannes thoughtful responses. Being able to
talk in person gave me insight of how passionate she is about caring for and educating
individuals on health related illnesses and concerns.

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Analysis
Interview Result
Luanne Parks NP is from Michigan and has been a nurse for over 15 years. She began by
explaining her educational history and how she came to be a NP. Luanne stated she attended
Ferris State University in Big Rapids in the 1990s to first obtain her nursing degree. She then
went on to Michigan State University where she obtained her Masters Degree in Nursing and
eventually sat in on the Nurse Practitioner Licensure boards. After working as an OB nurse in a
hospital for many years, she then began her career as a NP in a family practice/OBGYN office in
Ludington, MI. There she worked with mostly adolescents and women. She then moved on to a
family practice office in Baldwin, MI. She stated that working in this type of setting gave her a
new view on the way people live and said there were many challenges.
After seven years of working in the family practice office, Luanne decide to take a new
opportunity to work down in Grand Rapids in few retail clinics run by Metro Hospital.
According to Luanne, the clinics were not that popular and did not last long. This brought her to
move on to Butterworth Hospital where she first took a position as a Hospitalist. She admitted
and treated many people on their inpatient floors and dealt with more complex health issues than
in her previous nurse experiences. She now found herself having to lead code situations and deal
with more critically unstable patients. Luanne stated it was very challenging at first to make such
a drastic change in her career, but from that has grown so much as a NP. She was given the
opportunity to transfer to Big Rapids Hospital and took that opportunity due to it being closer to
her home. She loves her work in Big Rapids and finds it rewarding when she is able to see
progress being made each day in a patients health condition.

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Self-Reflection
Being able to talk one on one with a NP allowed me the opportunity to learn more about
what their responsibilities are and what it takes to become a NP. We as nurses are constantly
learning from our colleagues and especially from those in positions more advanced than our
own. By listening and learning from others career experiences and challenges, it can help us to
grow in our own nursing practice. I have learned many things from not only interviewing
Luanne, but also fromworking with her. One thing in particular is that Luanne inspired me to
further educate myself and told me to always be open to new nursing opportunities as they arise.
Significance to Nursing
Providing safe and quality patient care is the ultimate goal of all healthcare
providers. Luanne, as a NP, is able to provide safe quality care when treating patients at the Big
Rapids Hospital because of her advanced knowledge and many years of experience. Luanne is
also able to help ensure the patients on the Med Surg floor are being provided with quality care
by sharing her knowledge and nursing skills with the other healthcare professionals on the unit.
With her professional nursing expertise, if there is a change in the patients condition overnight,
she has the ability to change and add orders to the patients treatment plan, ensuring yet again
that we as a healthcare facility are doing everything we can to improve the patients illness and
health condition.
Nurse practitioners like Luanne, have a greater scope of practice than the average
Registered Nurse. They are able to, perform medical functions such as diagnosing a disease,
disorder or condition, ordering and interpreting tests and prescribing medications (Doran,
Kilpatrick, Lavoie-Tremblay, Lamothe, Ritchie, & Rochefort, 2012, p.852). This expertise gives

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Nurse Practitioners more responsibility and yet more capability to provide quality care. It is very
important for nurses to understand their specific scope of practice to ensure not only quality, but
safe care is administered (Doran et al., 2012).
Being able to interview a Nurse Practitioner was a rewarding experience. A significant
way nurses can improve the quality and safety of patient care they provide is to always stay up to
date with current evidence based nursing practice. Nurses at any level of practice should look to
learning from more experienced and educated nurses in their facility. By learning from
healthcare professionals who are more advanced than ourselves, it can help us to greatly improve
our own nursing practice.

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References
Doran, D., Kilpatrick, K., Lamothe, L., Lavoie-Tremblay, M., Ritchie, J. A. (2013).
Conceptual framework of acute care nurse practitioner role enactment, boundary work,
and perceptions of team effectiveness. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 69: 205217.
doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2648.2012.06046.x
Doran, D., Kilpatrick, K., Lamothe, L., Lavoie-Tremblay, M., Ritchie, J., & Rochefort, C.
(2012). How are acute care nurse practitioners enacting their roles in healthcare teams?
A descriptive multiple-case study. International Journal of Nursing Studies, 49(7): 851852. doi:10.1016/j.ijnurstu.2012.01.011