In a 2022 report titled “The Next Frontier of Care Delivery in Healthcare,” McKinsey estimates that outpatient and ambulatory settings will grow more than 5% a year from 2021 to 2025. One of the main factors driving this growth is the increasing number of patients and physicians who are finding that many types of care can be delivered at a lower cost and safely in ambulatory settings.
Ambulatory care nursing refers to nursing services performed in an outpatient setting, such as dialysis clinics, urgent care centers, ambulatory surgical centers, public health centers, hospital outpatient departments, home health organizations, and the offices of physicians and other health professionals.
As the majority of health care shifts to outpatient facilities, ambulatory care nurses play a vital role in expanding access to care, achieving quality patient outcomes, and managing costs, the American Academy of Ambulatory Care Nursing (AAACN) reports.
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Responsibilities of an Ambulatory Care Nurse
Ambulatory care nurses have the following general responsibilities, according to the AAACN:
- Help patients with chronic diseases, ensuring their conditions are adequately managed and complications are reduced.
- Provide patient education and promote good health. They work with patients to develop personalized care plans, empowering them to manage their health and make informed decisions about their care.
- Coordinate care for patients, helping to ensure that they receive the right care at the right time from the right health care providers. They often serve as navigators of the health care system, helping patients access necessary services and facilitating communication among health care providers.
- Contribute to improving the quality of care and patient safety. Ambulatory care nurses identify gaps in care and implement strategies to improve care delivery and patient outcomes.
Ambulatory Care Nurses Are in Demand
Nurses are in demand across the board. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) projects that employment of RNs will grow 6% from 2022 to 2032, faster than the average for all occupations, and that employment of nurse practitioners will grow by 45% in the same period, which is much faster than the average.
Registered nurses held about 3.2 million jobs in 2022, according to the BLS. Nurses who provide ambulatory health care services made up 18% of that number, the BLS reports, meaning there were approximately 576,000 ambulatory care nurses in 2022.
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Do You Need to Be Certified to Be an Ambulatory Care Nurse?
Registered nurses are not required to be certified to work as ambulatory care nurses. You may wish to become certified after you have at least 2,000 hours of clinical practice in ambulatory care nursing within the last 3 years, however. Being certified means you meet a valid and reliable assessment of the entry-level clinical knowledge and skills of registered nurses in the ambulatory care specialty after initial RN licensure.
The main ambulatory care nursing certification is the AMB-BC™ (Ambulatory Care Nurse-Board Certified). The Accreditation Board for Specialty Nursing Certification (ABSNC) accredits this American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) certification.
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Earn Your RN-to-BSN With Purdue Global
As the future of health care delivery becomes safer, more efficient, and more costs-focused, ambulatory care nurses will increasingly be needed, too. If an online RN-to-BSN would help you meet your career goals, request more information today.