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Respond to at least two of your colleagues’ posts on two different days and provide additional insight to your colleagues related to issues and topics they may want to also consider. Use the Learning Resources and/or the best available evidence from current literature to support your explanation.
Colleague #1
In providing care to patients, nurses and other professionals are integral to optimum patient outcomes. The shortage of primary care providers in particular has led to the creation of advanced nurse practitioner roles to fill the gap between the demand for healthcare services and the supply of providers to provide these services. Advanced practice nurses have obtained graduate education to obtain more skills and knowledge to provide important care to patients. Advanced practice nurses have the tools to take histories and perform physical examinations, order diagnostic tests, review the diagnostic tests, make diagnosis and provide treatment to patients.
As the role of the advanced practice nurse has evolved, there have specializations in the roles that they play. Currently, there are different advanced practice nurses who specialize in different aspects of patient care. According to Germack et al (2021),the certified registered nurse practitioner has obtained a master’s degree in nursing and board certification in their speciality. Certified nurse practitioners could be specialized in areas including pediatrics or gerontology where they have been board certified and provide services to pediatric patients or elderly patients.
Certified nurse midwives are advanced practice registered nurses. To become a certified nurse midwife, an individual must have a master’s degree or higher level degree from a nurse midwifery program.(Schuiling et al.2019). This program must be accredited by the Accreditation Commission for Midwifery Education. Certified nurse midwives must pass a certification examination and be licensed in the state in which they practice. Certified nurse midwives have authority to examine patients, reach a diagnosis and write prescriptions for patients in all states in the United States.
The physician assistants are medical professionals who have the training and knowledge to provid

e primary care services to patients.The physician assistant is trained in the areas of history taking, performing physical examinations, ordering diagnostic tests, providing treatment and managing treatment. Physician assistants generally have to work under the supervision of a physician and do not necessarily have to be nurses. To become a physician assistant, an individual has to obtain a master’s degree from a PA training program that has received accreditation from the Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant. (Kidd et al.2021). Physician assistant programs normally take three years to complete.
These three specialities have a positive impact on the work of the nurse practitioner. The nurse practitioner generally provides primary care services to patients of all age and gender demographics. Some patients might need specialized care based on their age or gender. Thus the nurse practitioner can refer a pregnant patient to a certified nurse midwife who will provide specialist care in obstetrics to the patient that the nurse practitioner might not be able to provide. In addition, the nurse practitioner can refer a pediatric patient to a pediatric certified nurse practitioner or a geriatric patient to a certified gerontology nurse practitioner for specialist care in treating geriatric conditions. Regarding the physician assistant, the nurse practitioner can work in collaboration with the physician assistant to provide high quality primary care to the patient.
References
Germack, H. D., Kandrack, R., & Martsolf, G. R. (2021). Relationship between rural hospital closures and the supply of nurse practitioners and certified registered nurse anesthetists. Nursing Outlook, 69(6), 945–952. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.outlook.2021.05.005
Kidd, V. D., Vanderlinden, S., & Spisak, J. M. (2021). An analysis of the selection criteria for postgraduate physician assistant residency and fellowship programs in the United States. BMC Medical Education, 21(1), 621. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-021-03059-y
Schuiling, K. D., Sipe, T. A., & Fullerton, J. T. (2019). Compensation and Benefits Surveys for Certified Nurse-Midwives and Certified Midwives. Nursing Economic$, 37(3), 126–151.