The Efficacy of a Doctor of Nursing Practice Mentoring Program

Mentoring creates opportunities for guidance, collaboration, partnerships, career development, personal growth, problem solving, leadership, and scholarly advancement among others. Mentoring is not a new concept to health care or to nursing. Nurses and others in the health care field depend on various individuals for their career growth and developmental networking. Doctor of nursing practice (DNP) graduates are encouraged to collaborate with other disciplines, assume leadership roles, and serve as mentors at the clinical, educational, or executive level. Mentoring relationships are essential for the DNP graduate to continue growing scholarly, professionally, and personally.

Qualitative Analysis of Comprehensive Care in Doctor of Nursing Practice Case Narratives: Astuteness and Advocacy Fall Short Without Audacity

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) programs have focused on competencies needed to deliver comprehensive patient care across settings and time. Endorsed by professional nursing associations, these competencies are typically evaluated through detailed case narratives written by DNP candidates. Beyond competency metrics, the essence of comprehensive care for advanced nursing practice has not been carefully explicated. In this study, a phenomenological analysis is applied to a purposive sample of 12 DNP case narratives to identify the meaning of comprehensive care as transmitted in practice. Clinical assessment precision, diagnostic acumen, and advocacy emerge consistently but only the more audacious nurse practitioners directly challenge health system fragmentation.

Leadership for the Integration of Comprehensive Care and Interprofessional Collaboration

The clinically prepared Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) professional is uniquely prepared to integrate the concepts of comprehensive care with interprofessional collaboration. Leadership skills and team-based competencies can shift the academic paradigm from educating in silos to interprofessional education, thereby addressing the problems originating from a fragmented health care system. A successful nurse-managed clinic accredited as a Level 2 patient-centered medical home, under the leadership of a DNP professional, is described. Interprofessional team training in comprehensive care is then described in a piloted program known as the Deans’ Honors Colloquium.

Ethical Choices in Aesthetic Medicine and Beyond

Practitioners will likely encounter significant ethical dilemmas during their professional careers. As these issues arise, practitioners will be required to analyze ethical issues and evaluate available choices. This case study discusses such an ethical dilemma in the context of aesthetic plastic surgery. The aesthetic provider is confronted with the question of whether or not to provide an ethically questionable procedure. The thought process discussed here can be extended beyond aesthetic medicine to all practitioners facing ethical dilemmas. An analysis of the principles of bioethics was undertaken. The principles of bioethics were then applied to the dilemma faced by the practitioner. Finally, a practical, 4-step system was constructed to be incorporated by the practitioner to guide in making ethically sound decisions.

Decision Support for Women With Early Breast Cancer

Approximately 100,000 new cases of lymph node–negative, estrogen receptor–positive breast cancer are diagnosed each year in the United States (Jemal et al., 2007). Adjuvant treatment for these patients is recommended and may include chemotherapy, hormonal therapy, combined chemotherapy plus hormonal therapy, or observation alone. Patient uncertainty plus dissatisfaction with the level of decision-making control over treatment options is common. This evidence-based practice change project focuses on improving the decision-making confidence of women with early stage breast cancer by increasing active participation in the discussion of treatment options. Seven participants’ decision control preferences were determined using a Control Preferences Scale. The effect of this intervention on satisfaction with the process was evaluated by using a 6-question Satisfaction With Decision instrument. There was a significant difference p < .05 in satisfaction with the decision process using a 2-tailed t test. This test was used to evaluate the effect of the intervention on satisfaction with the decision-making process compared to a group of women who did not receive the intervention. Women with early breast cancer can benefit from nursing interventions targeted at supporting their preferred level of decision control when making decision regarding treatment choices.

Federal Initiatives in Self-Management for Patients With Multiple Chronic Conditions: Implications for the Doctor of Nursing Practice

The ratio of people aged 65 years and older compared to people aged 20–64 years are expected to rise by 80% over the next decade. Currently, 70% of the American population is living with a chronic disease, and 2 out of 3 have multiple chronic conditions (MCC). The purpose of this review is to identify the current Federal Initiatives funded by the Affordable Care Act that are being used to demonstrate and promote the use of self-management practices in patients who are living with MCCs. Patients with MCCs who engage in self-management practices have shown to have a reduction in disease complications and exacerbations, less hospitalization and readmission rates, improved physical functioning, and adherence to their medical plan.