Young Adult Preventive Care
The Advanced Practice Nurse’s Role in Young Adult Health: Preventive Screening and Intervention
Young adulthood is a transition time that symbolizes independence and youthful exploration of thoughts, thinking and making decisions (Higley, 2020). T.
The Young Adult Health Challenges
Adolescents and young adults have a high proportion of motor vehicle accidents, homicide, mental illnesses, substance abuse, unplanned pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections. Healthcare coverage and utilization are the things that can be subject to gaps among this population, APNs should understand that young adults are in the stage of identifying themselves and will influence their future long-term health outcomes.
Universal Preventive Screening Models
Advanced practice nurses can provide a systematic set of screening measures that meet the complex health of young adults.
Health Equity and Social Determinants of Health
APNs should identify and manage the social contexts that have severely affected the health outcomes in young adults. This involves evaluating the stability of housing, education, occupation and availability of resources. APNs can provide links to young adults of community sources, educational resources and social services which eliminate the underlying drivers in health disparities (Beverly, 2023).
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Young Adult Preventive Care
Delivery and Quality Enhancement
Systematic changes are necessary in the delivery of healthcare to achieve the successful implementation of young adult preventive care. Innovative APNs can promote the extension of clinic hours, walk-in and flexible hours to accommodate work and educational schedules of young adults. Young adult-specific care protocols and staff training are created to allow age-appropriate and consistent care delivery. The APN-led quality improvement efforts can monitor the quality outcomes like completion rates in screening, the subsequent follow-up and behavioral changes in health (Htay & Whitehead, 2021). These outcomes educate ongoing improvement plans and prove that multifaceted young adult preventive care is worthwhile.
Conclusion
The clinical competency, patient advocacy and the broad view of advanced practice nurses could be used in measured improvement of the health outcomes of young adults in terms of preventing health damage through preventive screening and treatment. Through comprehensive screening measures, innovative intervention plans, social determinants of health and the establishment of collaborative care models, APNs can ensure that young adults can move through this important developmental stage and set up long-term health and wellbeing.
Carr, N. (2025, January 6). DAST Screening Tool: A Guide to Assess Drug Use Issues. Recovered. https://recovered.org/treatment/screening-and-assessment/drug-abuse-screening-test-dast
Htay, M., & Whitehead, D. (2021). : A systematic review. International Journal of Nursing Studies Advances, 3(3), 1–22. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijnsa.2021.100034
Saunders, J. (2020). Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT). AUDIT Screen. https://auditscreen.org/
