Nursing: Case Study

Introduction

In nursing profession it may at times be difficult for a future specialist to foresee or choose what kind of organization he or she will eventually work at. The current paper is a case study dedicated to the resolution of the choice of nursing specialty, a possible type of organization where I would like to work and describing it in terms of the number and type of clients this institution serves. What is more, the essay will identify my professional fit for the advanced nursing role; identify the board of nursing in the home state, which would support and implement this role into the workplace of preference.

The Essence of the Pediatric Nursing

Pediatrics as a nursing specialty is “the only discipline dedicated to all aspects of the well-being of infants, children, and adolescents, including their health, their physical, mental, and psychological growth and development, and their opportunity to achieve full potential as adults” (Kliegman et al., 2016). It is the field of study that revolves around biological, environmental, social and political influences which accompany children from their birth and up to the adulthood. One of the essential branches of pediatrics that requires specific knowledge and is very important towards ensuring child health is child neurology managed by a child neurologist. This nursing professional is responsible for diagnosing, analyzing and treating neurological disorders in children. I assume my area of preference will be working as a child neurologist.

A Perspective Organization to Select

One of the types of organizations a child neurologist can and may want to work in is the community health center with the direct patient care. A community health center is the medical facility that employs general practitioners and nurses in the spheres of family practices, pediatrics, family planning, women care, dental care, pharmacy, internal medicine and others and provides services in a specific area within its particular community. The clients served do not represent any special category and are the common families, children, women, men, and the elderly seeking health improvement services. Anyway, such centers can be especially attractive for me as a compassionate person as they serve people with a low income, those who are underinsured or have no medical insurance at all, live far away from or simply cannot afford the primary healthcare services (Florida Board of Nursing, 2007).

The Number and Kind of the Supposed Clientele

The number of clients served in the community health center is specific to the area the center is located and the number of clients, especially uninsured citizens. For example, the Miami Beach Community Health Center in Miami, Florida, my home state, serves 30000 patients annually. There are 7 departments of it in the city and about twenty services the community center proposes. Among these are pediatrics and child health. According to the data obtained by the National Association of Community Health Centers, the United States health centers altogether serve as healthcare providers for ten million people of the US every year (Miami Beach Community Health Center, 2015).

The specific clients of a child neurologist are mostly children from their birth and up to adolescence. These children have two possible reasons for paying a child neurologist a visit. The first reason is a monthly or annual medical examination, which is obligatory for children up to two years of age). The second reason is the expressed deviations of the nervous system, which hinder the normal course of life of a child. As one of the specialists of such center I expect to attend to around 2000 thousand children per year.

Professional Requirements and Fit for the Position

In order to become a child neurologist an applicant should have a proper level of expertise and complete minimum two years of “accredited training in general comprehensive pediatrics in addition to the necessary training to meet the requirements for neurology certification with special qualifications in child neurology, and fulfil the training requirement of the American Board of Pediatrics (ABP) and the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology (ABPN)” (ABP Board of Directors, 2015). Therefore, to become fit for the kind of advanced nursing role, the candidate is supposed to go through a sophisticated and comprehensive study program in general pediatrics to become a qualified, competent and skillful pediatrician. After the study program is completed, an applicant must take the ABP certifying examination. General pediatric requirements and pediatric-child neurology training is composed of the courses of emergency medicine and acute illnesses, developmental-behavioral pediatrics, adolescent medicine, term newborn, inpatient pediatrics non-ICU), ambulatory experiences to include community pediatrics and child advocacy, NICU, PICU, and additional subspecialty (ABP Board of Directors, 2015). My professional fit for the child neurologist lies in the fact that I am going through the aforementioned training to become a highly-skilled pediatrician and I am a careful, caring and compassionate person, deeply interested in ensuring any child’s well-being regardless of their parents’ economic and social status. Therefore, I am highly motivated to obtain a child neurologist position at one of the community healthcare centers in my home state, in the Miami Beach Community Health Center in particular.

The Board Regulating the Role and Implementation of a Nursing Professional

The implementation of a child neurologist into the community health center such as, for instance, the Miami Beach Community Health Center, will probably begin with the applying for the current position. Then, if the knowledge, experience, and the certificate are suitable and sufficient for this nursing role, the applicant is taken for the job. However, the Florida Board of Nursing, the body I will have to be licensed and supported by, is strict in selecting candidates for such a responsible position, and the criteria are very high. The Board of Nursing in Florida “licenses, monitors, disciplines, educates and, when appropriate, rehabilitates its licensees to assure their fitness and competence in providing health care services for the people of Florida” (Florida Board of Nursing, 2007). The purpose of the Nurse Practice Act issued by the Board is to make sure that every person, who is a nurse and practices in Florida, meets all the requirements of the profession and ensures safe practice for their clients. The nurses who are not competent or skilled enough and fail to meet the requirements of safe nursing practice are not allowed to practice in Florida. Therefore, they are expected to go through the approved program of the Board, which is taught at medical schools, colleges and universities and take an exam again.

The role of the Board of Nursing in Florida is an integral with regards to comprehensive regulation of health care in the state. The members of the Board interact on a regular basis with other affiliated groups of nursing professionals in Florida and the National Council of State Boards of Nursing. There are thirteen members in the board: seven are the Registered Nurses (RN) who have been engaged in nursing for at least four years. The other three are the Licensed Practice Nurses (LPN) having minimum four years of medical experience and the last three are the consumer members who are not and have never been connected with nursing and its practices. The members of the Board all have to live in Florida, which is an obligatory condition, and one of them is to be not less than sixty years old (Florida Board of Nursing, 2007).

Conclusion

To conclude, the chosen medical profession is in the field of pediatrics and is the child neurologist. It is the kind of healthcare professional that can be useful in many kinds of organizations. However, the community health centers are the ones which need such specialists the most. Here, a child neurologist examines and treats patients from the community: underinsured, uninsured, low-income and needy patients who cannot afford to have the primary care in other healthcare institutions. The clients of the child neurologist are children up to adolescence. The work of the child neurologist is manifested in the management and treatment of malfunctions caused by the nervous system disorders of children. In order to become a pediatrician and then a child neurologist an applicant should go through the ABP and ABPN training and pass an examination so as to be certified and have a license to work according to their profession and calling. The medical training of such a professional is regulated by the Nursing Board of specialists which is present in every state. The Board is responsible for the adequate and competent study programs, which the pediatricians-to-be are required to take and pass in the form of an examination. If a nurse fails to pass the exam, which is unacceptable in medicine due to the highest responsibility for human life, the practice of this nurse is prohibited by the Board.