Role of the Family Nurse Practitioners (FNPs) consists of dealing with 45% acute health problems, 34% episodes of exacerbation of chronic conditions and 24.5% for non-illness related health promotion visits. Collaboration with supervised Physician and signed collaborative agreement must be in place. Data suggests that mid level health professionals provide counseling in 84%, where Physicians counsel in 61% of visits. Advance Care Providers not only share the patient’s load, but also ensure superior patient satisfaction by providing non-billable services before, during, and after treatment (Pickard, 2014 p.130).
Non-billable value-adding activities comprise of educating patients, monitoring treatment care, following patients from the beginning to the end, managing adverse events/reactions, coordinating referrals to other specialist and keeping communication with them, preparing for procedures and executing them, answering questions, and handling complicated cases (Yopp, Wall, & Miller, 2016, p. 749).
Nurse practitioners (NPs) are required to follow state’s regulations at their work place. Medications of schedule II, III, IV, and V are considered to be controlled substances, consequently NPs are allowed to prescribe them under the supervision of a collaborating medical doctor (MD). Floridian NPs, who undergo proper training and have appropriate experience, can receive a federal waiver to dispense buprenorphine-containing products, as long as the supervising Physician is certified, trained, or permitted to treat and manage patients with opioid use disorder (Florida Scope of Practice Policy – State Profile).
References
Florida Scope of Practice Policy – State Profile. (n.d.). Retrieved from
http://scopeofpracticepolicy.org/states/fl/2019
Pickard, T. (2014). Calculating your worth: Understanding productivity and value. Journal of the
Advanced Practitioner in Oncology, 5(2), 128–133. http://dx.doi.org/10.6004/
jadpro.2014.5.2.6
Yopp A. W., Wall H. M., & Miller K.C. (2016) Recognizing the Contributions of Advanced
Practitioners to Oncology Care: Are Current Metrics Enough? Journal Advance Practice
Oncology.7:748–754. https://doi.org/10.6004/jadpro.2016.7.7.6