Keynote Session
Making Practice Perfect in Challenging Times: Nurse Practitioners’ Impact on the Healthcare Crisis
Susan Gennaro, RN, DSN, FAAN
Once again, healthcare reform is on the minds of patients, healthcare providers, politicians, legislators, and economists. The goal is to provide cost effective, safe, high-quality patient care. To help achieve this goal, nurse practitioners understand the importance of health promotion, management of chronic diseases and proper utilization of medical technology as defined by medical and nursing research. We have the responsibility to follow evidence based practice derived from research and we must foster a strong partnership between research, education, and clinical practice.
With the diminishing healthcare dollar and the inception of new ways to provide care and receive reimbursement, nurse practitioners must articulate the role and impact on patient care to others; patients, physicians, third party payers, legislators, or healthcare policymakers. Nurse practitioners are poised to lead the way to team with physicians for cost effective, safe, high quality care, to define models of delivery of care, and to improve access to primary care services. In order to influence the decision makers, we must strengthen our voice as we continue to strive to perfect our practice in challenging times. Dean Gennaro will enlighten the audience with her experiences as a nurse researcher and nurse leader in her efforts to improve perinatal care domestically and globally.