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Nilda Gonzalez
Miami Regional University
Health Promotion: Prevention of Disease
Dr. Pavel De La Noval
03/30/2024
The Role of Advanced Practice Nurse in Improving the Health of Young Adults Through Preventive Screening and Intervention
The phase of young adulthood is a crucial one that involves numerous emotional, physical, and cognitive alterations. It as well is filled with a lot of behaviors that could be perilous to one’s life and can lead to premature mortalities. Advanced practice nurses (APNs) are the primary caregivers for young adults, run all-inclusive health assessments, and provide evidence-based healthcare interventions (Colizzi et al., 2020). The APNs are oriented towards availing the young adults a type of care that is preventive entailing regular screenings, immunization programs, and health promotion education. APNs professionals can deal with certain kind of illnesses that targets young adults including mental health issues, alcohol and substance abuse, and sexually transmitted infections (STIs).
In most cases, the young adulthood stage is the most sensitive one when it comes to mental health issues posing a huge demand for APNs to intervene. An improvement can be made to the mental health of young adults by using mental screenings for conditions such as anxiety, bipolar, and depression to facilitate early interventions and management (Kumar et al., 2020). Further, some of the APNs have basic mental health training and can thus provide services such as counseling and education to young adults on stress management and self-help measures. APNs can also serve as a bridge between young adults and more advanced help services such as rehabilitation centers and support groups.
Additionally, APNs can avail screening for cases of substance abuse being one of the life-threatening factors among young adults while saving those at risk. Notably, APNs can incorporate evidence-based intervention and firm prevention measures through strategies such as education on substance and alcohol abuse, adopting healthy lifestyles, and ways to seek help (Bales et al., 2023). Most of the young adults suffer from teenage pregnancies calling for the APNs to conduct screening on this issue. The APNs can majorly play a role in the prevention of these cases by using education and education on contraceptives alongside making them available. Closely, the issue of STIs stands at a high rate amongst young adults. APNs are obliged to conduct prevention education programs, mass and confidential screenings, and treatment sessions, and facilitate significant communication on sexual health matters.
In conclusion, APNs are a significant part of young adults through essential services such as preventive screenings and interventions. As the primary caregivers, they are obliged to serve as guidance to the young adults towards informed health matters by handling health issues such as mental health, STIs, teenage pregnancies, and alcohol and substance abuse. APNs are capable of cutting down the mortality rates of young adults using health education, screenings, interprofessional collaborations, and counseling programs that lead to healthy and informed behaviors and thus better health outcomes.
References
Bales, G., Hasemann, W., Kressig, R. W., & Mayer, H. (2023). Protocol: Impact, scope of practice and competencies of Advanced Practice Nurses within APN-led models of care for young and middle-aged adult patients with multimorbidity and/or complex chronic conditions in hospital settings: A scoping review protocol. BMJ Open, 13(10). https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2023-077335
Colizzi, M., Lasalvia, A., & Ruggeri, M. (2020). Prevention and early intervention in youth mental health: Is it time for a multidisciplinary and trans-diagnostic model for care? International Journal of Mental Health Systems, 14(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s13033-020-00356-9
Kumar, A., Kearney, A., Hoskins, K., & Iyengar, A. (2020). The role of psychiatric mental health nurse practitioners in improving mental and behavioral health care delivery for children and adolescents in multiple settings. Archives of Psychiatric Nursing, 34(5), 275. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apnu.2020.07.022