1.6.1 Direct Comprehensive Care

Clinical expertise in a nursing specialty is identified as a “cornerstone” of Advanced Practice Nursing (APN).Provision of comprehensive client/family centred, collaborative care with an interprofessional approach.

The Canadian Nurses Association^[1] identifies direct comprehensive care to include integration of clinical experience with theory, research, nursing and related knowledge and includes:

• Advanced assessment & intervention strategies within a client-centred framework
• Utilizes qualitative and quantitative data from multiple sources when making decisions and managing care
• Analyzes interaction of sociological, psychological, physiological processes, determinants of health & client’s lived experience
• Anticipates and explains a variety of client responses to actual or potential health problems
• Applies decision-making in complex clinical situations
• Identifies trends and patterns related to client health implications
• Disseminate knowledge via appropriate methods
• Appreciates the need for and plans outcome measurements
• Manages actual and potential health problems
• Supports to minimize variances in care and prevent adverse health outcomes