The healthcare world is in flux. Nurses with advanced skills, like nurse practitioners (NPs), are stepping into more prominent roles in patient care delivery. As their clinical responsibilities grow, health leadership is realizing just how important it is for NPs and other advanced practice providers to also understand business basics.
The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor (UMHB) online Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) – Adult Gerontology Acute Care Nurse Practitioner program acknowledges this critical shift in nursing scope of practice and expectations. Through courses such as Advanced Practice Registered Nurse Roles & Business Principles, graduates develop the skills necessary to thrive in modern healthcare environments. Coursework highlights evolving NP responsibilities, including the financial management and clinical proficiencies needed for leadership and independent practice positions.
Business in Nursing and the Interdisciplinary Healthcare Team
Nursing is often viewed primarily through a clinical lens, focusing on patient care and well-being. However, as healthcare systems become more complex and resource-intensive, NPs are expected to provide high-quality care and be financially savvy to optimize supplies and utilize budgets. Incorporating business education into nursing programs and practice has become more vital.
NPs are essential members of healthcare teams as they collaborate with various professionals — like physicians, respiratory therapists and social workers — to offer complete and continuous care. Knowing business fundamentals can help NPs work well in these teams and step into leadership and managerial roles that leverage their clinical expertise. Specifically, NPs may need to understand how their care decisions affect finances and how optimizing human and capital resources can offer patients the best, most cost-effective care.
The American Association of Nurse Practitioners (AANP) summarizes the expectations that nurse leaders, including NPs, may encounter in the modern healthcare environment: “NPs are responsible to the public and adaptable to the dynamic changes in health care. As leaders in health care, NPs combine the roles of provider, mentor, educator, researcher, advocate and administrator.”
How Increasing Levels of Practice Authority Are Changing NP Career Outlooks
Across the U.S., NP practice authority has gradually expanded toward more independence and responsibility for patient care. According to the AANP, over half of states now permit full practice authority for NPs. This empowers them to evaluate, diagnose, treat and prescribe medications. In the remaining states, NPs retain significant practice authority but enter into a collaborative agreement with a physician or other healthcare provider.
The trend toward greater autonomy has meaningful implications for NP career outlooks as high-level members of an interdisciplinary healthcare team and independent practitioners and entrepreneurs. In either case, knowledge of business principles is critical for NPs as they navigate regulatory requirements and financial operations while leading teams or establishing a successful practice model.
Business Principles for Modern Nurse Practitioners
Given the ever-increasing scope of practice authority across the U.S., NPs can enhance their career opportunities by developing core business competencies. Business topics that NPs should know include:
- Budget fundamentals and operations, including planning for payroll and employee benefits
- Resource utilization and optimization
- Regulatory requirements, such as billing compliance, credentialing and documentation standards
- Legal and ethical considerations, like marketing your practice or offering financial incentives
Understanding the business basics of healthcare is a must-have skill for today’s nursing professionals. As the world of healthcare grows more complex, UMHB’s online MSN – Adult Gerontology Acute Care Nurse Practitioner program embraces these changes. The curriculum supports NPs in developing business skills to make healthcare better for everyone, whether NPs work in an interdisciplinary model or run their own practices.
Learn more about UMHB’s online Master of Science in Nursing – Adult Gerontology Acute Care Nurse Practitioner program.