Nurses play a critical role in the ever-changing landscape of modern healthcare practice, as they have many opportunities to change the quality and perception of healthcare in the 21st Century. It is important for nurses to have many options to improve the practice setting, to adopt evidence-based practice models to improve quality of care, and to recognize the importance of patient-centered care as the primary area of focus. Nurses must provide ethically responsible, appropriate, and effective care to patients that promotes their safety and improves their quality of life in a cost-effective and efficient manner (Scott, Matthews, & Kirwan, 2014). Nurses play a significant role in expanding the practice model and in advancing patient-centered care and treatment which is likely to have a positive and meaningful impact on their wellbeing. This reflects the importance of key factors such as continuity of care in improving practice objectives and focusing on patient and their safety in all aspects of care.

Modern healthcare organizations require nurses who possess extensive knowledge and experience within the practice setting and who have skills that will allow them to achieve greater quality of care for their patients. This perspective is important because the healthcare system is evolving in many ways to include new concepts of healthcare delivery such as accountable care organizations, nurse-managed health clinics, and medical homes. Each of these organizations require nurses with a diverse skillset and tools which impact decision-making and drive patient care to the next level. Nurses must expand their knowledge of evidence-based practice solutions to drive healthcare delivery and support a safer and more efficient nursing practice environment (Melnyk, Gallagher-Ford, Long, & Fineout-Overholt, 2014). From this perspective, nurses must have the ability to be effective communicators and to deliver care and treatment which supports greater excellence in patient care and related outcomes.

Nurses must provide effective care and treatment in a variety of settings and must demonstrate their understanding of patient-centered care within community settings that is focused on different populations, preventive strategies, and health promotion among children and adults (Stanhope & Lancaster, 2013). Nurses now acquire advanced training in many specialties and assume advanced clinical and leadership roles within nursing practice which influence outcomes and demonstrate the importance of bringing healthcare to the community setting more effectively and consistently to address any disparities within different population groups (Stanhope & Lancaster, 2013). These factors are critical in demonstrating the value of expanding nursing practice to accommodate new roles and responsibilities which influence the practice setting and support improved quality of care for all patients, regardless of their individual needs and challenges.

The nursing practice environment continues to evolve in the 21st Century and requires nurses to assume new roles which support new models of care and treatment. These models represent the importance of patient-centered care and the ability of nurses to exercise sound judgment in expanding nursing-based knowledge within these settings. Nurses must effectively adapt to these challenges and acquire new forms of knowledge to improve their capacity to care for and treat patients effectively so that their comprehensive needs are met and new discoveries can be made. Nurses must demonstrate their understanding of the key factors which impact decision-making at the practice level and how to best utilize their knowledge and skillsets to treat patients using 21st Century methods to improve patient care.