Chances are most acute care hospital based nurses wouldn’t be able to tell you the first thing about the job or value of an ambulatory care nurse.
The past decade has seen a tremendous change in ambulatory care nursing. Ambulatory care nurses typically practice outside of traditional hospital settings and the common theme is that patients come from and return to their houses. Historically, the outpatient setting was driven solely by physician practices. Physician’s typically saw their patients in their offices and referred them to the appropriate services. The system was primarily physician driven, and as such there were very few registered nurses.
However, as hospital financial caps and new technology developed, patients began to move into the outpatient arena in larger numbers. Many of these new patients suffered from complications and chronic conditions than ever before. As such, there was a significant increase in the need for registered nurses in the outpatient setting.
Now, ambulatory care nursing is a growing specialty, has its own specialty specific certificates, and its own ambulatory care continuing education. Within the ambulatory care setting, registered nurses must be able to provide a wide range of nursing interventions and activities. Additionally, the time frame per each patient interaction is much shorter – therefore, the nurse must have extremely tailored interventions.
Outpatient facilities have been developed all across the United States, mainly by large traditional hospital systems. These centers serve millions of Americans outside of the traditional hospital. The response of Americans has been increasingly positive, and thus, the continued demand for ambulatory care nurses can be expected.
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