Nursing Specialties Expand as Health Care is Reformed

By: The American Institute of Health Care Professionals, Inc.

By: The American Institute of Health Care Professionals, Inc. June 2010. With the recent passage of health care reform, professional nurses are fast seeking transformation of their own practices. Health care reform will provide the platform for new models of care delivery as well as new nursing roles, such as highly trained case managers, legal consultants and health care promotion and disease prevention specialists.

Health Care reform will demand a more central focus on patient care through the continuum of care. Nurses will play the most pivotal roles in case managing patients not just through one episode of care, but through long-term issues of care and rehabilitation. There will be more emphasis on disease management which will also focus heavily on high quality patient education and program development for health promotion and wellness strategies. The American Academy of Case Management, a professional division of the American Institute of Health Care Professionals, Inc., provides nurses a real opportunity to study and acquire advance knowledge and skills in this practice specialty. The organization offers a case management fellowship upon completion of its rigorous program.

Another major area of practice specialty that will see growth and demand for nurses is that of legal consulting. Nurses are now acquiring advanced knowledge and skills in health care law, malpractice law and defensive practice strategies. The American College of Legal Nurse Consulting, another professional division of the American Institute of Health Care Professionals, Inc., provides a full, distance education program for registered nurses seeking entry in this practice specialty. Nurses complete an entire, extensive education and training program and are prepared to practice as consultants related to health care malpractice issues, risk management, life care planning and defensive practice. These nurses market themselves to attorneys, risk management and insurance companies, health care organizations, and other related agencies. Most legal nurse consultants develop their own practices. Others obtain positions with law firms, insurance companies, and health care organizations.

Understanding the face of changing health care delivery, the AIHCP, Inc. also offers various other programs that are open to nurses seeking education and certification in a practice specialty. These include; Grief Counseling, Meditation Instruction, Stress Management, Crisis Intervention Consulting, Spiritual Counseling, Child and Adolescent Grief and Holistic/Integrative health care and nursing practice. Other programs include Pastoral Thanatology, Clinical Hypnotherapy and Health Life Coaching.

All of the programs provide a full curriculum of continuing education courses that are provided in online classroom, and provide for one-to-one mentoring by highly qualified faculty. Nurses entering these programs have a two-year time period in which to complete all of the courses in a defined curriculum. Once all of the education standards are successfully met, the nurse then applies for and receives professional certification by the AIHCP, Inc. Each specialty certification is overseen by professional advisory board members who are highly qualified with ample experiences in the practice specialty. Most all of the advisory board members are also certified in their practice specialty. There are also full programs of “re-certification” for certified professionals. Re-Certification is achieved over time by the certified member meeting additional, ongoing continuing education in the specialty practice, as well as achieving a set standard of actual practice in their certified specialty.

Health care reform promises to bring major changes, challenges and transformations to the delivery of care in this country. Professional nurses will be at the forefront of these transformations by having prepared themselves for advance roles in various specialty practices. These advanced roles will allow nurses to maintain a significant and crucial position on the health care team, as care delivery is focused on higher quality, better patient outcomes and cost effectiveness. The AIHCP, Inc., remains dedicated to researching knowledge and skill needs for health care professionals, and developing high quality programs of continuing education and certification, to meet the markets needs, both professionally and from a patient-centered care perspective.

The American Institute of Health Care Professionals, Inc. 2400 Niles-Cortland Rd. SE Suite

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