1

APRN INTERVIEW

APRN Interview and Analysis

Maura Kennedy

Youngstown State University

NURS: 7003 Role Development

Dr. Ballone & Mrs. Thomas

June 18, 2022

2
APRN INTERVIEW

At my current RN position at Mercy Health in Youngstown in the cardiovascular/ neuro

intensive care, I work very closely with advanced practice nurses on a daily basis. They are all

extremely knowledgeable and take excellent care of their patients while diagnosing and

treating their specific needs. The advanced practice nurse that I chose to interview was Rhonda

Gluckner. Rhonda works with trauma services at Mercy Health. Some days she works trauma on

the floors, while other days she works in the neuro intensive care unit, and a couple days a

week in the trauma clinic. In the trauma clinic she sees patients for follow up visits who were

recently hospitalized for trauma conditions. Rhonda will follow these patients until she feels

they are well enough to be discharged from their services. During the interview Rhonda

disclosed that she has been a registered nurse since the early 2000’s and had actually received

a degree in chemistry before accomplishing her nursing degree. She uses the term of being a

“late bloomer.” I think what she means by this statement is that she initially did not know what

career she wanted to pursue, but she eventually found her passion for nursing. Rhonda worked

in the emergency department throughout her entire bedside nursing career. Following that, she

was a sepsis coordinator. A sepsis coordinator is a dedicated healthcare provider, typically a

nurse, who works in collaboration with the medical staff to provide care to suspected or

confirmed septic patients, during rounds in both the emergency and inpatient units

(HealthTrust, 2020, p.1). Following this, Rhonda went back to get her advanced practice degree

in her 40’s. Going back to school after so many years had to be a huge adjustment for Rhonda!

With that being said, she loves her career, which makes all the schooling and hard work well

worth it!
3
APRN INTERVIEW

When asked if she sees an advanced practice nurse influence in today’s healthcare

system, Rhonda stated that she definitely did. Rhonda states that, “Nurse practitioners have a

unique role and are able to see the patient as a whole, whereas doctors see patients based on

their specialty.” I could not agree more with this statement from Rhonda. Given a nursing

background, nurses are able to see the whole picture, whereas, for example, a cardiologist is

simply focused on the cardiovascular system or a pulmonologist is specifically focused on the

respiratory system. Looking at the patient as a whole is an extremely important part of treating

and diagnosing a patient and allowing them to return to their maximum functioning. Holistic

nursing is defined as, “all nursing practice that has healing the whole person as its goal” (Joel,

2018, p.253). Treating patients as a whole also allows the patients to feel more heard and

respected and individualizes their needs. Even though Ronda is a clinician, she is still able to

look at the patient not just medically, but socially as well. She takes all of that into

consideration while treating the patient.

When asked the question of barriers that advanced practice nurses face, Rhonda initially

chuckled and smirked. I interpreted this as it has been a little bit of a rollercoaster for APRNs to

be accepted and looked at as knowledgeable, well rounded providers. Rhonda explains that

some places are more accepting to advanced practice nurses than others. She states that many

places are “very much against nurse practitioners.” Rhonda was then asked if she had any

advice as to how to deal with this. She explains that advanced practice nurses should stick

together and build a community to overcome this problem. Just going through this problem as

a community and showing off APRN skills and effectiveness in treating and diagnosing patients

will help to gain awareness of the nurse practitioner. She explains that it has been a long battle
4
APRN INTERVIEW

of physicians coming to terms with the APRN essentially taking over their roles. This certainly

goes back to building a well-rounded relationship with the physician and the APRN. In order to

have an effective and successful practice, the APRN and physician must have mutual respect for

one another and see one another as equals.

In regard to what changes should be made in order to make APRNs more successful,

Rhonda would like to get rid of the standard care agreement in some circumstances. The

standard care agreement is defined as, “a written agreement between a Certified Nurse

Practitioner, Certified Clinical Nurse Specialists, or Certified Nurse-Midwife and a collaborating

physician that formally establishes a collaborative practice agreement” (Haupt, 2006, p.1).

Rhonda explains that in her personal role in intensive care or trauma, it is not ideal. She goes on

to explain that in rural areas there does not need to be a standard care agreement because the

APRN should not be limited as to what they can do to help the patients. In those areas,

healthcare facilities are limited, and the patients need all the treatment and care they can get.

If the APRN is limited to the care he/she can provide, this could potentially hinder the

treatment for the patient and decrease the quality of care. She also thinks that if the APRN has

been in their position for a certain period of time, that the standard care agreement is not

needed. This would be beneficial for an APRN who has been practicing for years and is a well-

rounded provider. Rhonda was then asked if she has seen any issues in regard to prescriptive

authority with APRNs. She explains that APRNs do not have as much authority as physicians do,

but overall, she has not seen prescriptive authority as an issue.

5
APRN INTERVIEW

Interviewing Rhonda was an eye-opening experience and helped to further depict the

roles and duties of an APRN. It was also very beneficial to see how a practicing APRN views the

laws/ regulations and barriers to advanced practice.

6
APRN INTERVIEW

References

Haupt, J. (2021, June 28). Standard care arrangements for CNP's, CNS's and CNM's. Krugliak,
Wilkins, Griffiths & Dougherty. Retrieved June 22, 2022, from
https://www.kwgd.com/news/standard-care-arrangements-for-cnps-cnss-and-cnms/

Joel, L. A. (2018). Advanced practice nursing: Essentials for role development (4th ed.). F.A.
Davis Company.

The sepsis detectives - healthtrust - performance improvement for Healthcare. HealthTrust.

(2020, February 5). Retrieved June 22, 2022, from
https://healthtrustpg.com/thesource/clinical-connection/patient-care/the-sepsis-detectives/