Speakers - WNSC 2024

Abstract

The purpose of this excerpt is to point out a few major points why nursing science and practices need modernized innovations to meet population health needs.

Nurses are every community hero found in every community, providing expert care from birth to the end of life, with roles ranging from direct patient care, nurse educators, and case management to establishing nursing practice standards, lobbying in politics and policy development, developing quality assurance procedures, and directing complex nursing care systems. All areas of bedside nursing and nursing science require modern advancement to meet the needs of our ever-changing populations. Nurses are the backbone of healthcare. They care not only for their patients but also for the patient's family, their colleagues, and their communities. They advocate for their patients and provide education and bedside care. The emergence of APN practice has led to an increased availability of improved access to health care services and high-quality care.

The health future of the human population lies in the fact that nurses continue to play more effective roles in advancing population health. The specific knowledge and skills nurses bring to communities include but are not limited to assessing individuals and families for appropriate community health needs, using modern data collection processes and knowledge from evidence-based environmental factors, responding to public health epidemics/pandemics/endemics in communities, and educate and augment awareness towards prevention of community diseases and spread. Covid-19 was an excellent example of the unassailable role played by nurses.

Nursing plays a great role in the elimination of health disparities. One of the most powerful concepts for nurses is the reduction of health disparities by increasing awareness of diverse cultural competencies, advocating for their patients, lobbying for patients' rights, and participating in the legislative processes. The forefront exploration of the frontiers of nursing science should be up-to-date with eliminating health disparities by advocating for patient rights, determining appropriate resources for low-income and uninsured populations, and removing numerous practice barriers for APNs.