Peer 1 

Advanced practice nurses play a major role in transforming the healthcare system enhancing increased healthcare accessibility, provision of value-driven healthcare environment as well as promote the delivery of high quality of care to patients. The advanced practice nurses develop and implement numerous initiatives and health programs aimed at promoting effective disease management thereby enhancing continuous improvement in value, access, and quality of healthcare services (Pickard, 2014). 

          There are various tactics utilized by advanced practice nurses to put them in a better strategic position regarding pay equality. Such tactics include designing and implementing cost-efficient and effective healthcare models to facilitate maximum utilization of advanced practice nurses’ contributions. Furthermore, the diversity associated with a nursing practice including a wide range of roles and numerous varieties of practice settings calls for application of care and cost-effectiveness standards thereby influencing nurses to acquire a better position on pay equality (Pickard, 2014). Another tactic employed to enhance advanced practice nurses attains pay equality is enhancing the appropriate presentation of nursing practice in both the decision-making panels of the government and private organizations. The presentation facilitates the implementation of effective metrics under which payment, pricing, cost, and value are based on. 

          Advanced practice nurses should not view themselves as lower-cost providers given that their knowledge, skills, and capabilities of healthcare practice continue to expand and advance over a given period. This means that their delivery of care services improves with time calling for an increase in payment to enhance maximum utilization of their dynamic evolving skills to impact the positive transformation of the healthcare system (Woo, 2017). As APNs continuously contribute to the establishment of innovative healthcare models to enhance the satisfaction of the patient’s needs, the payment schemes must include appropriate measures of the value contributed by the APN 

 

Peer 2 

Although advanced practice nurses, commonly referred to as APN, provides somewhat similar services, their pay often tends to match owing to a variety of distinct reasons. A persistent salary gap exists in the nursing profession (Bhagyalekshmi, Sha, & Rajendran, 2019). As a result, this has been perceived, by many, as both discriminatory and harmful. The salary gap often exists on gender basis. Based on a study conducted by Nurse.com, fields where female nursing practitioners are considered to be dominant bear significant disparities in terms of pay (Yi, 2016). In such scenarios, male APNs tend to earn more money in the profession as compared to their female counterparts. As such, the need prevails to come up with relevant strategies that would facilitate relevant means of bridging the said gap. 

One of how pay inequity could be rectified is by ensuring that female nurse representatives can negotiate salaries for female nurses before them accepting the employment opportunity (Yi, 2016). Las such, one should not be willing to accept a job before issuing a counteroffer regardless of how much one requires or is need of the job. By doing so, this should enable employers to create favorable offers for all their employees based on their specified qualifications.  

Another way in which equality may be promoted in the nursing profession is by ensuring that there is proper representation for all nurses (Yi, 2016). Similar to how workers from different profession obtain proper representation such as their involvement in trade unions, nurses should also have a relevant body which is intended to guarantee proper working conditions for them. In addition to this, the employees, in this case, may be able to obtain better pays that are bot no-discriminatory and equal among all nurses. 

APNs’ Position 

Owing to APNs’ contribution to the healthcare system, they must be treated similarly when it comes to matters regarding their pay (Yi, 2016). The main reason for this is because people in the profession often undergo proper training that makes them uniquely skilled for their various position, and hence their services may and cannot be provided by individuals from other career fields.  

Although nurses are involved in the provision of low-cost services to patients, this should not necessitate lower pay in comparison to other occupations (Hakim & Bahri, 2016). The main reason behind this mostly lies behind the fact that they provide services that are crucial and life-saving from a literal point of view. As such, this should necessitate them to push for a pay that is comparable with others. This should be extended to them being issued with similar services as well. By doing so, this would enable the nurses to feel highly motivated hence allowing them to provide better services to their customers (Yi, 2016). As a result, the facility or institution in which they provide may be able to experience increased growth more so since more people would be willing to obtain healthcare services from the hospital in question.  

With the inclusion of equal pay among APNs, this would create room for proper working conditions in the profession. In addition to this, this would ensure that proper legal requirements are instilled concerning the protection of the welfare of employees (Hakim & Bahri, 2016). Similarly, this would allow for the creation of opportunities where nurses experience economic boost hence ensuring that they work in a manner that best guarantees innovation and competitiveness in the profession. 

Response post with a minimum of 150 words each response. Word document, double space. APA (6th) 

Below is the original activity if you needed:

Reflect on the current roles of advanced practice nurses in healthcare as the care providers at the front line of disease management and health promotion in primary care and many other specialty settings. What do you think are some effective tactics for APN strategic positioning regarding pay equality? Should APNs position themselves as lower-cost providers who provide better care or push for comparable worth, same service and same pay?
 

Below is an article that provides great practical information that highlights how provider productivity is calculated in the clinical setting, which is important to know as future nurse practitioners.

Calculating Your Worth: Understanding Productivity and Value- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4093517/

PLEASE FOLLOW THE FOLLOWING INSTRUCTIONS BELOW:

ZERO (0) Plagiarism, 5 References no more than 5 years, follow the APA style/format.

See attached rubric and follow it, please.

Gastrointestinal (GI) and hepatobiliary disorders affect the structure and function of the GI tract. Many of these disorders often have similar symptoms, such as abdominal pain, cramping, constipation, nausea, bloating, and fatigue. Since multiple disorders can be tied to the same symptoms, it is important for advanced practice nurses to carefully evaluate patients and prescribe a treatment that targets the cause rather than the symptom.   

 

Once the underlying cause is identified, an appropriate drug therapy plan can be recommended based on medical history and individual patient factors. In this Assignment, you examine a case study of a patient who presents with symptoms of a possible GI/hepatobiliary disorder, and you design an appropriate drug therapy plan.

To Prepare

• Review the case study assigned
• Reflect on the patient’s symptoms, medical history, and drugs currently prescribed.
• Think about a possible diagnosis for the patient. Consider whether the patient has a disorder related to the gastrointestinal and hepatobiliary system or whether the symptoms are the result of a disorder from another system or other factors, such as pregnancy, drugs, or a psychological disorder.
• Consider an appropriate drug therapy plan based on the patient’s history, diagnosis, and drugs currently prescribed.

  

For this week’s assignment.   

To Prepare 

Review the case study:  

Patient HL comes into the clinic with the following symptoms: nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. The patient has a history of drug abuse and possible Hepatitis C. HL is currently taking the following prescription drugs: 

· Synthroid 100 mcg daily 

· Nifedipine 30 mg daily 

· Prednisone 10 mg daily 

Reflect on the patient’s symptoms, medical history, and drugs currently prescribed. 

Think about a possible diagnosis for the patient. Consider whether the patient has a disorder related to the gastrointestinal and hepatobiliary system or whether the symptoms are the result of a disorder from another system or other factors, such as pregnancy, drugs, or a psychological disorder. 

Consider an appropriate drug therapy plan based on the patient’s history, diagnosis, and drugs currently prescribed. 

Write a 1-page paper that addresses the following: 

· Explain your diagnosis for the patient, including your rationale for the diagnosis. 

· Describe an appropriate drug therapy plan based on the patient’s history, diagnosis, and drugs currently prescribed. 

· Justify why you would recommend this drug therapy plan for this patient. Be specific and provide examples. 

Write a 1-page paper that addresses the following:

• Explain your diagnosis for the patient, including your rationale for the diagnosis.
• Describe an appropriate drug therapy plan based on the patient’s history, diagnosis, and drugs currently prescribed.
• Justify why you would recommend this drug therapy plan for this patient. Be specific and provide examples.

Case: Criminal Law

Please view the Healthcare fraud: Billing for services not rendered video below (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ZB2fueXn9g). Then read the case study below the video.

Benevis and Kool Smiles Dental Clinics have joined the ranks of medical professionals and businesses found guilty of defrauding the government. Using the background reading as well as other sources, research the case against this company. After completing your research, please respond to the following questions.

1. Discuss the case against Benevis and Kool Smiles Dental Clinics. Be sure to explain the relationship between the two.
2. What were the actual charges filed against them?
3. What was the punishment?
4. Discuss the final outcome of the case. Was it justified? Be sure to cite reliable sources to support your analysis.

Length: Submit a 3-page paper.

SLP Assignment Expectations

1. Conduct additional research to gather sufficient information to support your analysis.
2. Limit your response to a maximum of 3 pages.
3. This should not be personal opinion (avoid the use of “I” in your paper).
4. Support your paper with peer-reviewed articles and reliable sources, and use at least 3 references. For additional information on how to recognize peer-reviewed journals, see http://www.angelo.edu/services/library/handouts/peerrev.php and for evaluating internet sources:
   https://www.library.georgetown.edu/tutorials/research-guides/evaluating-internet-content
5. You may use the following source to assist in your formatting your assignment: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/

The theoretical foundations of qualitative and quantitative methods are very different, but many researchers believe both methods should be used in the research study to increase validity and reliability. What advantages or disadvantages do you see in using both types of methods in a nursing study? Support your answer with current evidence-based literature.

Choose a case from the AMA Journal of Ethics Case Index   https://journalofethics.ama-assn.org/cases   and take a position. For this assignment you will evaluate the ethical arguments for or against the issue. Identify the potential legal arguments (consider current federal guidelines), indicate any potential professional code conflicts you foresee, and support your position with an explanation of your own ethical/moral foundation.

In your 2-3 page paper:

• Identify the issue and state your ethical position.
• How might this scenario play out or impact you in your role as a nurse practitioner? 
• Defend your position with legal, ethical, and professional evidence.
• As part of your position, propose strategies and solutions for addressing the issues.
• What other ethical issues does this case bring to light, if any?

Support your position with at least one scholarly source (it may be your text).  Be sure to cite the article you choose, use APA format, and include a title page and reference page.