Why nurse practitioners make the best healthcare advisors
Here you are with a disruptive solution to one of the many problems within the healthcare system. You’ve assembled a dream team of business professionals including marketing, sales, software developers, product managers, and designers. Now you’re ready to create a medical advisory board, but where to start, and who to ask? My answer: nurse practitioners!
First of all, you might be asking, what is a nurse practitioner? A nurse practitioner is a licensed healthcare professional who diagnoses and treats medical conditions. They prescribe medication, order and interpret diagnostic tests, and perform invasive procedures. Nursing theory serves as the foundation of their philosophy of care, and they approach patient care holistically by emphasizing health promotion, disease prevention, and health education.
So why do these professionals make such good medical advisors for new health technology companies? Here are five reasons why every company needs to get a nurse practitioner on board.
Comprehensive Education
Nurse practitioners undergo extensive and holistic education. They must earn both a bachelor of science and a master of science in nursing within their medical specialty: acute care, adult health, family health, gerontology, neonatal health, oncology, pediatrics, psychiatry, or women’s health. Intermixed with their science and medical courses, nurse practitioners are required to take additional courses in leadership, health policy, informatics, evidence-based practice, statistics, organizational behavior, and health behavior change.
Many nurse practitioners also seek out sub-specialty certification in either immunology, cardiology, dermatology, emergency, endocrinology, gastroenterology, neurology, occupational health, orthopedics, pulmonology, sports medicine, and urology. Some nurse practitioners also earn doctorate degrees: either a DNP (doctor of nursing practice), a PhD (doctor of philosophy in nursing), or both!
Dual Nursing & Medical Experience
Most nurse practitioners have at least 10 years of registered nursing experience prior to returning to school. Once a nurse practitioner, she then diagnoses and treats medical conditions. So basically, that’s two for the price of one: with a nurse practitioner you get someone with the perspective of a nurse and a physician. Win-Win!
Most Trusted
Every year, Gallup conducts a survey regarding Americans’ perceptions on the honesty and ethical standards of different professionals. In 2015, the most trusted profession was nursing. Actually, since the survey started including nurses in 1999, they have topped the list nearly every single year.
According to this survey, 80% of respondents rated nurses as having very high honesty and ethical standards compared with a 7% rating for Congress and 8% for care salespeople. Nurse practitioners bring an air of trustworthiness. Adding a nurse practitioner to your advisory board might increase the confidence your customers have in your brand or product.
Bread for Innovation
Something I’ve noticed about nurse practitioners is they always have ideas. They are always out to drive change, and they are always out to make things more efficient. Why are they so perfect for innovation? I think it is because their profession was an innovation itself.
For decades, the healthcare system has cried for a solution to the crushing costs, poor outcomes, lack of access, and too few physicians. Dr. Loretta Ford, a public health nurse, sought to answer these issues with an innovative new discipline. She thought, “Why can’t a registered nurse with advanced education provide medical diagnosis and prescribe medication?” Well, thanks to her vision, they can now! Nurse practitioners are natural innovators because they’ve been innovating since their inception.
True Collaborators
Nurse practitioners are genuine collaborators. Their education emphasizes the value of interprofessional teamwork and patient-centeredness. You’ll be hard pressed to find a nurse practitioner with an ego, as most of them authentically seek to improve the lives of their patients and the healthcare system as a whole. Nurse practitioners value the perspective and insights of their colleagues and will be poised on day one to work closely with each member of the business team. Bottom line: nurse practitioners want to work together in order to make meaningful change.
So, as you begin selecting individuals for your healthcare advisory board, you might want to consider a nurse practitioner. Not only do they bring trustworthiness to your brand and an innovative, collaborative spirit, but they also possess the perspective of both a nurse and a physician. Basically, they’re awesome.
