Discussion Board replies

Discussion Board replies

First discussion

According to Matthew 9:12, “But when Jesus heard this, He said, “Those who are sick, not those who are healthy, need a physician.” Because of the proven benefits of preventive treatment, this sentiment has shifted in recent years. A physician’s care is typically sought after when a person becomes ill and requires medical attention; however, maintaining regular visits with a primary care physician can help to prevent many illnesses from occurring. According to Shi and Singh, “demand for physicians continues to grow faster than supply.” As a result, a physician shortage of 46,100 to 90,400 is expected by 2025.” (Shi & Singh, 2017, p. 88). As the demand for physicians grows, the health-care delivery system has been forced to create and employ a growing number of supporting roles to assist physicians in providing care.

Nurse Practitioners (NPs) and Physician Assistants (PAs) are two of these roles (PAs). These two roles work together to assist physicians in providing primary care and specialty care to patients. Patients in primary care settings are frequently given the option of seeing their primary care physician or their primary care physician’s nurse practitioner or physician assistant. According to Cooper, “studies had shown that NPs and PAs could deliver 70% or more of the office-based primary care and, thus, significantly increase the efficiency of generalist practices” (Cooper, 2007). NPs and PAs are frequently easier to schedule appointments with and provide the same care as physicians. Nurse practitioners and physician assistants in hospitals “can prescribe narcotics, perform procedures, and direct patient care” (Hooker, 2006). Nurse practitioners and physician assistants work in hospital settings as part of patient care teams and can be employed by either the doctor they are assisting or the hospital itself. The impact of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education’s 80-hour rule, enacted in 2003, is expected to increase the roles of nurse practitioners and physicians in hospitals in the future. The average working week for medical residents is limited to eighty hours under this rule. Institutions that do not follow this rule risk losing their accreditation (Hooker, 2006). As a result, many hospitals have increased their hiring of nurse practitioners and physician assistants to fill staffing gaps.

In order to practice medicine, nurse practitioners and physician assistants must complete similar training programs. A nurse practitioner education program currently lasts 26 months on average. Physician assistant education programs last an average of 27 months (Hooker, 2006). The majority of nurse practitioner programs allow for part-time enrollment, whereas physician assistant programs are mostly full-time. Each year, nurse practitioner programs graduate an average of 6,552 students, a decrease from the previous year’s average of 8,200. On the other hand, the average number of students graduating from physician assistant programs has increased. The average number of graduates from PA programs in 1998 was 4,261. By 2005, this figure had risen to an average of 4,644. (Hooker, 2006).

The increased use of nurse practitioners and physician assistants has been a significant advancement in medical labor. These two’s roles have expanded in recent years to help with the growing physician shortage in primary care and hospital settings. Both can be trained in significantly less time than doctors and provide comparable levels of care. I believe that in the future, there will be even more nurse practitioners and physician assistants in practice, particularly in rural areas where health professionals are in short supply. These two roles have a significant impact on patient care.

Important information for writing discussion questions and participation

Welcome to class

Hello class and welcome to the class and I will be your instructor for this course. This is a -week course and requires a lot of time commitment, organization, and a high level of dedication. Please use the class syllabus to guide you through all the assignments required for the course. I have also attached the classroom policies to this announcement to know your expectations for this course. Please review this document carefully and ask me any questions if you do. You could email me at any time or send me a message via the “message” icon in halo if you need to contact me. I check my email regularly, so you should get a response within 24 hours. If you have not heard from me within 24 hours and need to contact me urgently, please send a follow up text to

I strongly encourage that you do not wait until the very last minute to complete your assignments. Your assignments in weeks 4 and 5 require early planning as you would need to present a teaching plan and interview a community health provider. I advise you look at the requirements for these assignments at the beginning of the course and plan accordingly. I have posted the YouTube link that explains all the class assignments in detail. It is required that you watch this 32-minute video as the assignments from week 3 through 5 require that you follow the instructions to the letter to succeed. Failure to complete these assignments according to instructions might lead to a zero. After watching the video, please schedule a one-on-one with me to discuss your topic for your project by the second week of class. Use this link to schedule a 15-minute session. Please, call me at the time of your appointment on my number. Please note that I will NOT call you.

Please, be advised I do NOT accept any assignments by email. If you are having technical issues with uploading an assignment, contact the technical department and inform me of the issue. If you have any issues that would prevent you from getting your assignments to me by the deadline, please inform me to request a possible extension. Note that working fulltime or overtime is no excuse for late assignments. There is a 5%-point deduction for every day your assignment is late. This only applies to approved extensions. Late assignments will not be accepted.

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Plagiarism is highly prohibited. Please ensure you are citing your sources correctly using APA 7th edition. All assignments including discussion posts should be formatted in APA with the appropriate spacing, font, margin, and indents. Any papers not well formatted would be returned back to you, hence, I advise you review APA formatting style. I have attached a sample paper in APA format and will also post sample discussion responses in subsequent announcements.

Your initial discussion post should be a minimum of 200 words and response posts should be a minimum of 150 words. Be advised that I grade based on quality and not necessarily the number of words you post. A minimum of TWO references should be used for your initial post. For your response post, you do not need references as personal experiences would count as response posts. If you however cite anything from the literature for your response post, it is required that you cite your reference. You should include a minimum of THREE references for papers in this course. Please note that references should be no more than 5 years old except recommended as a resource for the class. Furthermore, for each discussion board question, you need ONE initial substantive response and TWO substantive responses to either your classmates or your instructor for a total of THREE responses. There are TWO discussion questions each week, hence, you need a total minimum of SIX discussion posts for each week. I usually post a discussion question each week. You could also respond to these as it would count towards your required SIX discussion posts for the week.

I understand this is a lot of information to cover in 5 weeks, however, the Bible says in Philippians 4:13 that we can do all things through Christ that strengthens us. Even in times like this, we are encouraged by God’s word that we have that ability in us to succeed with His strength. I pray that each and every one of you receives strength for this course and life generally as we navigate through this pandemic that is shaking our world today. Relax and enjoy the course!

Hi Class,

Please read through the following information on writing a Discussion question response and participation posts.

Contact me if you have any questions.

Important information on Writing a Discussion Question

• Your response needs to be a minimum of 150 words (not including your list of references)
• There needs to be at least TWO references with ONE being a peer reviewed professional journal article.
• Include in-text citations in your response
• Do not include quotes—instead summarize and paraphrase the information
• Follow APA-7th edition
• Points will be deducted if the above is not followed

Participation –replies to your classmates or instructor

• A minimum of 6 responses per week, on at least 3 days of the week.
• Each response needs at least ONE reference with citations—best if it is a peer reviewed journal article
• Each response needs to be at least 75 words in length (does not include your list of references)
• Responses need to be substantive by bringing information to the discussion or further enhance the discussion. Responses of “I agree” or “great post” does not count for the word count.
• Follow APA 7th edition
• Points will be deducted if the above is not followed

• Remember to use and follow APA-7th edition for all weekly assignments, discussion questions, and participation points.
• Here are some helpful links
• The is a great resource

References:

R. A. Cooper (2007). In an era of physician shortages, new opportunities for nurse practitioners and physician assistants. doi:10.1097/acm.0b013e31812f7939. Academic Medicine, 82(9), 827-828.

R. S. Hooker (2006). The experience of physician assistants and nurse practitioners in the United States. 4-7 in the Medical Journal of Australia, 185(1). URL: http://ezproxy.liberty.edu/login?url=https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy.liberty.edu/docview/235743033?accountid=12085

Shi, L., and D. A. Singh (2017).

The fundamentals of the American health-care system. Jones & Bartlett Learning, Burlington, MA.

#2 Discussion

According to Shi and Singh, health professionals are among the most diverse and well-educated of all labor groups (2016). Within health care settings, there are numerous disciplines and associated professionals. Although physicians are the primary providers of health care, nurse practitioners collaborate with physicians to create a system for optimal care solutions. The distribution of medical care is primarily managed by physicians and nurses. When it comes to caring for the sick, the roles of the two professions are fully engaged, but differences in educational and training requirements, career paths, and practice environments distinguish the two fields.

The requirements for becoming a physician or nurse professional differ depending on the state and/or discipline.

Before practicing medicine or providing care, all states require both physicians and nurses to be licensed. Physicians are in charge of evaluating, diagnosing, and treating medical problems. Physicians must have a doctorate of medicine (MD) or osteopathic medicine (DO) from an accredited medical school, pass a national board exam, and complete a supervised residency or intern program. Following medical school, some residencies can last up to 6 years (Shi & Singh, 2016). Although the education and training track is scaled appropriately for physicians, nurses must also complete levels of organized education and training.

Nurses are major caregivers in a variety of health care settings, addressing the sick and injured’s physical, mental, and emotional well-being. States, like physician licensure requirements, require nurses to be licensed and well-trained before providing care. As a practicing nurse, one must complete an approved nursing program (diploma, associate, or bachelor degree) and pass a national exam. Most practical nursing programs combine classroom instruction with supervised clinical experience (Shi & Singh, 2016). Clinical placements are critical in nursing students’ learning processes. Certain settings, such as nursing homes, have been found to necessitate more effort in order to ensure students develop the appropriate context and influence their learnings (Berntsen, Bjork, Grethe & Hestetun, 1999). Nurse programs, unlike physician programs, vary in length from one to five years. Colleges and universities across the country offer these programs. The career path and opportunities available to physicians and nurses differ depending on specialty and treatment basis or approach.

Generalists, specialists, and hospitalists are the three types of physicians (Shi & Singh, 2016).

Primary care physicians, also known as generalists, are trained in general practices.

Specialists are physicians who focus on specific systems or diseases and must be certified in their field.

Anesthesiology, cardiology, dermatology, internal medicine, neurology, obstetrics and gynecology, ophthalmology, pathology, pediatrics, psychiatry, radiology, and surgery are the most common specialties (Shi & Singh, 2016).

Hospitalists strive to reduce the overall cost and length of stay of patients in the hospital.

Nurses, unlike physicians, can prepare to work as a registered nurse, licensed practical or vocational nurse, and/or advanced-practice nurse depending on their degree or education level and training (Shi & Singh, 2016).

The interaction of generalists and specialists is critical for patient care; however, financial and organizational changes in American medicine are causing tension in physician-physician relationships (Pearson, 1999).

Despite the fact that specialty settings are organized based on physician certifications, advanced-practice nurses can obtain certification in four areas of specialization: clinical nurse specialist (CNS), certified registered nurse anesthetists (CRNAs), nurse practitioners (NPs), and certified nurse-midwives (CNMs) (Shi & Singh, 2016).

There are numerous settings that are staffed by both physicians and nurses.

The majority of physicians work in private practices with physician partners and clinical employees.

In addition, physicians can work in hospitals, federal government agencies, public or community health clinics, schools, or prisons.

Nurses, on the other hand, work in a variety of health care settings.

Nurses are frequently classified according to the settings in which they work.

Private-duty, hospital, long-term care, public health, medical office, and occupational health are all clinical settings available to nurses (Shi & Singh, 2016).

The number of active physicians in medicine continues to rise and grow in the United States, as does the physician-to-population ratio (Shi & Singh, 2016). Since World War I, nurses have been the largest group of health care professionals (Shi & Singh, 2016).

It’s incredible that we still have people who care enough about health care to devote their lives to it for missionary or professional reasons.

According to Matthew 9:12, “On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.”

These words from Jesus simply express the need for what physicians and nurses provide in this diverse world.

References

Gateway to the Bible (New International Version Passage).

9:12 (Matthew) www.biblegateway.com retrieved

I.T. Bjork, K. Berntsen, B. Grethe, and M. Hestetun (January 2010). Nursing students’ perceptions of their clinical learning environment in placements outside of traditional hospital settings, according to the NCBI. Obtainable at https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4263152/.

S.D. Pearson (January 1999).

Principles of Generalist-Specialist Relationships, National Center for Biotechnology Information (Suppl 1): S13-S20.

URL: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1496875/