Business planning is a crucial tool for Advanced Practice Nursing. As of today, the APN gears towards independence and innovation, an exciting era for expert nurses. There are four APN categories, according to the American Association of Colleges for Nursing, which is certified nurse-midwives, specialists, practitioners, and anesthetists (Grabowsky, 2015). Population growth, particularly of the aging persons, has significantly increased the need and demand for primary care providers. Consequently, APNs find a lucrative opportunity to conduct small businesses. Such an opportunity can help nurses explore their full potential. However, they lack some competencies, such as proficiency in applying financial and economic principles to develop effective plans for quality healthcare improvement. Subsequently, there is a need for business planning. The first crucial step in determining whether entrepreneurship is the right step is conducting a self-assessment test. The evaluation is to ensure that APNs have the propensity for success and a clinical skill set that is above reproach. In self-assessment, the APN needs to understand and differentiate between the direct and indirect processes that make up the system (Johnson & Garvin, 2017). The plan also involves focusing on the size that the business will have over time. Therefore, to find the balance between direct and indirect processes, a large portion of time is allocated for clinical visits, which must be financially productive. Finding that balance bases on the needs and demands of the practice, professional values, as well as the personal goals of the APN. In doing so, some questions need to be asked. What does the APN value most? What type of nursing principles best depicts personal opinions about the practice? How is value expressed in the current practice?
After such questions have been raised, the next step of the business planning is an inventory of skills. The backbone for clarification of APN's professional goals is a skills inventory (Hamric, Hanson, Tracy, & O'Grady, 2013). Consequently, finding the balance between processes is heavily dependent on an inventory of the skills. The American Medical Association established a web-based practice management center in 2012 (Ferrante, Bonacina, Pozzi, Pinciroli, & Marceglia, 2016). The center, coupled with the skills inventory, help physicians manage their business practices. One patient care setting innovation that has been successful is the conceptualization of direct and indirect processes in systems thinking context. In addition to that, various entrepreneurs provide useful intel on how to manage a small business. What this means is that the APNs have access to a variety of business-related information, which will be vital in the implementation of such plans. Considering the core competency of APNs is direct care for patients, the next step is identifying the population with healthcare needs. The identification happens through various means, one being individual-based APN expertise (Hamric, Hanson, Tracy, & O'Grady, 2013). Other modifies that can also be used is differentiation by age, health promotion specialty, and geographical location. The next step of the business plan is formulating a mission, values, and vision statement. The step comes after the patient populations have been identified, and their care processes have been outlined. The statement encapsulates APN's reason for existence, plans, prospective and patient funding prospects, and priorities (Hamric, Hanson, Tracy, & O'Grady, 2013). At this point, the statement serves to differentiate the APN from other physician practices using the nursing care model.
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Lastly, business planning outlines safety and risk management policies. APN's safety policies define how to maintain patient, staff, and provide security. Additionally, the policy clearly outlines the procedures of handling hostile persons and securing a patient's valuables. When it comes to risk management, the plan outlines ethical clinical and business practices. Some of the included aspects are communication channels and conflict management avenues and departments. To enhance openness and transparency, APN should include channels for feedback where the patients give remarks on the service. In case of a complaint or dissatisfaction, an immediate investigation should be conducted and recommendations put in place.
References
Ferrante, S., Bonacina, S., Pozzi, G., Pinciroli, F., & Marceglia, S. (2016). A Design Methodology for Medical Processes. Applied Clinical Informatics , 7 (01), 191-210.
Grabowsky, A. (2015). Smartphone Use to Answer Clinical Questions: A Descriptive Study of Apns. Medical Reference Services Quarterly , 34 (2), 135-148.
Hamric, A. B., Hanson, C. M., Tracy, M. F., & O'Grady, E. T. (2013). Advanced Practice Nursing-E-Book: An Integrative Approach . Elsevier Health Sciences. (Pp. 506-535)
Johnson, J. E., & Garvin, W. S. (2017). Advanced Practice Nurses: Developing A Business Plan for An Independent Ambulatory Clinical Practice. Nursing Economics , 35 (3), 126.
