The healthcare industry relies on its experts to achieve patient-centered goals. There was a time when doctors alone were at the forefront in providing excellent patient care and keeping the medical service industry in one shape. However, with the expansion of the population and the need for more professionals, nurses started branching out from traditional roles into more leadership roles, which allowed them to dominate the healthcare sector steadily.
As a result of a phenomenal display of leadership and skills, nurses have become the crux of a thriving medical service industry. This was evident in how the nursing body handled the immense patient population during the pandemic of 2019.
By getting a Doctor of Nursing Practice degree, you can quickly push yourself to the top of the medical hierarchy and shift how the healthcare sector manages patient care. Here are several ways getting a terminal degree in nursing can help you transform the healthcare sector into a revolutionary one:
Take Up More Leadership Roles
Being a leader is all about lending your knowledge and skills to the healthcare staff to keep them unified and guide them in providing optimal care. As a nurse, you can quickly transform yourself into a leader by looking into online post masters DNP programs and picking the most suitable option for your career growth. The skills and knowledge you pick up can make you an ideal candidate for several leadership roles.
For instance, as a chief nursing officer, you will cover a spectrum of administrative responsibilities, including meeting everyday operational goals. Alternatively, you can become a nursing department director and play a critical role in the nursing sector. Fieldwork tests your communication skills and understanding of technology which are essential in mapping out long-term hospital goals and determining the healthcare sector’s purpose in catering to the large population.
Hospitals thrive under a great leader, ensuring that the healthcare protocol is being followed closely.
Create A Culture Of Optimal Care
A lucrative DNP degree can help you develop a culture that pushes healthy lifestyles to the forefront. You can use your skills and knowledge outside hospitals and lend your expertise to large organizations and businesses where workers often suffer from poor health. By visiting these facilities, you can guide companies to allow employees to get monthly checkups, raise awareness of workplace injuries, and connect employees to resources like a nutritionist to develop better habits.
Back at the hospital, you can provide highly personalized care by working with patients. Most states, such as Alaska and Idaho, allow DNP professionals to work without physicians’ supervision. Working in these states will enable you to diagnose a patient, order tests, and guide them on adequate health management without needing a doctor to look at the results. You may even carry out a workplace health checkup, such as screening for skin cancer. This can help you address chronic health conditions like diabetes and illnesses developed by poor choices, such as obesity.
Similarly, you can assess complex health situations like a congenital heart defect, investigate the illness, analyze the severity of the condition and assist a surgeon in performing the necessary procedure, such as preparing the child before they get wheeled into surgery and providing aftercare. So whether patients need a routine checkup, an organization needs help in looking after their employees, or you want to solve complex healthcare cases, you can do it all.
Devise Policies To Advocate For Patients
Patients need a strong advocate in their corner who ensures that they can get all their needs met safely and securely when they step in for a checkup. As a DNP professional, you have a good idea of where the healthcare facilities lack and where patients feel discomfort while getting treated.
These policies include encouraging the staff to learn a new language, using language translating apps, or hiring more bilingual staff to assist patients who speak more than one language. Make sure you inform the team on how to communicate with the patient using simple terms and words without complicating the diagnosis.
After discussing with the hospital director, ensure patients have information on what insurance policies they can use and how the hospital assists patients who can’t pay the total cost. The policies may also include developing an easy-to-follow admission and discharge process with less paperwork and more automated data entry. You can also emphasize implicit bias training among nurses and doctors to present prejudices and politically motivated stereotypes preventing patients from getting adequate care.
Integrate Technology
Technology has become the cornerstone of any successful enterprise, including healthcare. A hospital cannot function without introducing technological advancements into the healthcare system. Your willingness as a DNP professional to accept technology into the hospital and train the staff to adjust to this advancement is imperative in reaching patient goals. Tools like artificial intelligence and blockchain can automate data entry according to the HIPAA protocol without causing an accidental data breach. As a result, whenever a patient needs a checkup, you can easily pull the digital records and get to work.
You can also communicate with your colleagues using healthcare chat servers such as MedChat to discuss patient details without risking a data leak and ensuring all the information stays encrypted.
Technology has also automated patient monitoring. So instead of you doing multiple rounds, you can use automated IV pumps and smart beds to make sure the patient’s vitals, weight, and required dosage of medicine are accurate. Smart beds also prevent patients from falling over and injuring themselves.
You can train junior nurses on using technology safely and effectively through demonstration and supervision. At the same time, discourage the administration from regressing to manual data entry and adjusting to automation.
Final Thoughts
Doctors and nursing practitioners are pioneers in the healthcare industry. Your decision to study for a terminal degree makes you an indispensable part of the healthcare sector. A highly advanced degree offers you knowledge and skills, making you suitable to bring change to this trillion-dollar industry. As a DNP, you can reshape yourself into a leader and establish your position in governing administrative policies.
Your knowledge can lead you out of the hospital and into sectors where employees live a poor lifestyle, which can burden the healthcare industry if timely help is not offered. Simultaneously, you can work with patients in an autonomous manner providing primary care. Patients may also start leaning on you for support and rely on the patient policies you introduce. Your ability to adjust to technological advancements also makes you an asset to hospitals since you can help streamline patient care.