Ever since I decided to pursue a MSN-FNP degree, I have always wondered what it is like or what thoughts patients, especially minorities have when being treated by NPs as compared to the standard physician. These thoughts directed me to do some research and I found an article that discussed patient’s perceptions and views in detail. The research article titled “The Lived Experiences of African American Women Receiving Care from Nurse Practitioners in an Urban Nurse-managed Clinic” by Wehbe-Alamah, McFarland, Macklin, & Riggs, (2011) addresses the experiences of African American women who received care by NPs. The objective of this study was to discover the lived experiences of the selected adult African American women used for the study when …show more content…
Leininger’s Sunrise Enabler model was used to meet the study’s objective. It enabled the participants provide the needed information regarding their lived experiences while being cared for by Nurse Practitioners. It also aided the researchers to discover the various practices that influence African American women’s reception of health care (Wehbe-Alamah, McFarland, Macklin, & Riggs, 2011). Colaizzi’s phenomenological method of analysis was instrumental in interpreting the …show more content…
The findings of the study were detailed and covered cultural, social, spiritual, and economic factors related to care in these patients. The researchers established that the participants preferred the care they received from nurse practitioners to care they had received from physicians. Nurse practitioners spent more time with them and provided better, easier to understand explanations (Wehbe-Alamah, McFarland, Macklin, & Riggs, 2011). Nurses were less judgmental, more empathetic, and respectful. All of these factors resulted in strong, trusting relationships between the nurse practitioner and patient. Religion and spirituality were important to the participants, who viewed them as promoters of health and well-being (Wehbe-Alamah, McFarland, Macklin, & Riggs, 2011). Similarly, social and familial bonds were strong and influenced the health of the participants in numerous ways. Additionally, nurse practitioners tended to be holistic in their approach to care, promoting overall health and well-being, without a myopic focus on the chief complaint. Finally, they appeared to be relatively flexible and accommodating, but able to negotiate with the participants so as to prioritize and target their most important health concerns at each visit. (Wehbe-Alamah, McFarland, Macklin, & Riggs,