Running head: INTERVIEW WITH AN APRN 1

Interview with an APRN and Analysis

Jaclyn Coker

Youngstown State University

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Interview with an APRN and Analysis

In my interview with an APRN, I chose to interview Janet Blythe, CNP. Janet works at

Salem Regional Medical Center as a part of the hospitalist group. Janet has worked as a nurse

since 1986, and has worked many different areas, including dialysis, critical care, and case

management. In 2014, Janet became a nurse practitioner, starting her career working straight

nights at Mercy Hospital in Canton, Ohio. While working at Mercy, Janet began working with

the hospitalist group at Salem Regional Medical Center “prn”, and eventually left Mercy to work

at Salem full time.

Janet decided to pursue a career as a nurse practitioner after working with resident

physicians as a case manager. During this time, Janet states that she learned a lot from the

resident physicians about more advanced clinical practice. Janet wanted to pursue her career

further, and she did not want to pursue a management or administrative role. Preferring the

clinical aspect, Janet stated that she really did not want to be a physician, and felt the role of an

advanced practice provider was much more suited to her.

Janet’s specialty is Adult-Gerontology Nurse Practitioner. As previously mentioned, Janet

works at Salem as a part of the hospitalist team. Her role there includes working with a group of

physicians and dividing care of the hospital inpatients amongst them. Janet oversees care for her

own set of patients, including provider rounds, and if needed, will discuss cases with the

collaborating physicians. She does patient admissions, daily notes, discharges, and consults.

When asked if she sees an APRN influence in today’s healthcare system, Janet stated she

did see an influence. She feels that in many states there is a lack of healthcare providers in

smaller communities, and many APRNs play a significant role in treating patients in these

smaller, more rural communities. The role of nurse practitioner has developed over time due to
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changed patient needs and populations, working to expand healthcare access in within

communities (Joel, 2018). Janet also feels that sometimes patients and their families indicate a

preference for advanced practice providers, because they sit and listen to the patients. What Janet

is describing her is advocacy, which is an important skill for a nurse practitioner. Advocacy

includes the responsibility of the nurse practitioner to educate the patient and help support them

and their family to make informed choices relating to their care. Advocacy includes helping

patients and families navigate through barriers within the healthcare system.

When asked about barriers that APRNs face, Janet does feel that sometimes work culture

at a hospital or culture with some physicians can be a setback to APRN practice. Janet states that

the culture of some physicians and hospitals have a harder time accepting the role of an APRN.

What I believe Janet is describing is professional dissonance, when diversity issues are not

recognized or acknowledged, and this results in a negative impact on teamwork (Joel, 2018).

These types of barriers with collaboration inhibit growth and change within our healthcare

system. Essential components of collaborative practice include maintaining an autonomous,

trusting relationship between physician and nurse practitioner, sharing common goals, mutual

concerns, and shared power control (Joel, 2018). It is important for collaborative partners to

recognize and acknowledge shared values, and commit to solve problems and accomplish goals

in a constructive manner.

Janet would like to see more use of APRNS and expanded roles. Now, Janet feels that her

clinical practice is sometimes limited in certain areas. While her education and specialty has

trained her to provide care in rapid response scenarios, it is not currently allowed in her role. She

describes a colleague who is trained in performing paracenteses, but is not credentialed at their

facility. Credentialing is important when securing clinical privileges as an APRN. It includes

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verification of the APRN’s ability to provide healthcare services, verification of licensure,

education, training, and other factors relating to clinical competency (Joel, 2018). Credentialing

is often a lengthy process, and can limit providers from being able to provide treatment to

patients. Once credentialed, organizations decide whether to authorize provider privileges.

Privileging is a continuous process, and can providers can have changes with their scope of

privileges and new technologies and research emerges (Joel, 2018).

I asked Janet what she wishes she knew as an APRN student. Janet wishes that she

expanded her educational experience. She stated that she completed many of her clinical

rotations in one area, and it limited her capabilities when she first went into practice. Janet found

that she had difficulty with dictation when she got out of school, and this was in part due to

limiting her clinical experience to one facility. She feels that she would have been better suited

obtaining clinical hours at a variety of different organizations and facilities in order to maximize

her learning experience.

A big thing Janet has noticed with some of her APRN students that it can be hard to

transition from a registered nurse to a provider role. Nurses are used to gathering information and

then giving that information to the provider, but as a provider, Janet says that now you have to

also work to fix the problem. One thing Janet felt that was lacking in her education personally

was her pharmacology course. She stated that her pharmacology education was more suited for

pharmacists and that she did feel adequately prepared for her role. She also feels that because her

education was primarily online, she feels that she is lacking in some skills that she doesn’t

perform often, such as suturing. Janet loves being a nurse practitioner because she loves to figure

things out, and her patients come in with a variety of problems. She enjoys the challenge of

figuring out the problems and what the best solutions are for her patients.
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References

Joel, L. A. (2018). Advanced practice nursing: Essentials for role development. F.A. Davis

Company.