Advanced Practice Registered Nurse Essay

There are four types of Advanced Practice Nurse roles, the nurse practitioner, clinical nurse specialist, certified registered nurse anesthetist, and certified nurse-midwife. The Family Nurse Practitioner is the advanced practice role that will be discussed. According to Hamric, Hanson, Tracy, and O 'Grady (2014) the primary care NP provides care for patients in diverse settings, including community-based settings such as private and public practices, acute, and long-term care settings across the life span (pg. 396). Family Nurse Practitioners have faced many challenges in the medical profession to be recognized as health care providers. Most of these challenges where from fellow nurses. According to Hamric, Hanson, Tracy, and O’Grady (2014) conflict and discord about the Nurse Practitioner role continued to characterize relationships between NPs and other nurses (pg. 18). Despite the resistance to NPs in nursing, physicians increasingly accepted NPs in individual health care practices (Hamric, Hanson, Tracy, and O’Grady, 2014, pg. 18). Physicians readily accepted the role of the Nurse Practitioner, working together to improve patient outcomes and safety.

First, the state licensure regulates NP practice and it has been a big issue since NPs are not able to practice to the fullest extent despite of their education and training. NPs practice is regulated by state licensure and only about one-third of the nation has adopted full practice authority licensure and practice laws for NPs (Hain & Fleck, 2014). The American Association of Nurse Practitioners (AANP) reports that, under a full practice authority model, NPs are still required to meet

The APRN Consensus Model was released in July of 2008 to define advanced practice registered nurse, identify the titles to be used by APRNs, and define specialty area of practice. The Consensus Model also describes population foci, suggests a process for recognition of new APRN roles, and recommends requirements for implementation (American Nurses Association [ANA], 2010). The APRN regulatory model helps uniform scope of practice of APRN across the United States, which benefit individual APRN, enhance patient outcomes, and improve the quality of care. Consensus Model consists of Licensure, Accreditation, Certification, and Education. The Education criteria in LACE Consensus Model relate to all APRN programs regardless of master’s or doctoral

All accredited educational programs include didactic learning that includes advanced assessment, pharmacology and pathophysiology and clinical experience gained through rotations and preceptorship. APN’s complete master’s degrees or post master’s programs in preparation for certification. Certification is granted by The American Academy of Nurse Practitioners and the American Nurses Credentialing Center. Certifications are earned in adult and family, acute care, pediatrics, psychiatric, gerontology and women’s healthy specialties. APN’s are licensed by individual state boards of nursing and they are certified in advanced specialty areas. APN’s have prescriptive authority in all 50 states and can practice without direct physician supervision in several states. They work in a variety of settings including hospitals, clinics, schools, colleges and urgent care facilities. APN’s must recertify every five years with 1000 hours of clinical practice and 75 continuing education hours in the area of

In 2008, the coalition of members from the Alliance for Advanced Practice Credentialing and the National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN) created the Consensus Model for Advanced Practicing Registered Nurses (APRN’s). This model creates a framework for APRN’s in licensing, accreditation, certification, and education in the United States (Alleman & Houle, 2013). The establishment of this Consensus Model has developed a bases for the ARNP’s comprehensive knowledge base, ability for clinical reasoning, cultural, and ethical competencies, establishing a model of practice for ARNPs in which to follow. These concepts will be further discussed in this paper.

2. Can an APRN be licensed solely within a specialty such as an ER nurse practitioner?

The success of NPs depends on practicing evidence-based care with competency in assessment, diagnosing, managing patients, and maintaining a caring practice. The nursing component of the NP role continues to be challenged from within nursing, as well as by large national physician organizations. NPs are extensions of nursing practice who are guided by nursing theory. The transformation from nurse to the advanced practice role of NP involves development of advanced knowledge and skills for listening, knowing, being with patients, connecting patients to their communities, promoting health,

There are some legal issues, which are very restrictive; thus, affect the advanced nursing practice by hindering APRNs from serving patients better (Stephens, 2015). One of these issues is the requirement that APRNs should have a training arrangement with supervising physicians. Existing healthcare laws limit them from ordering diagnostic tests and prevent them from writing prescriptions for certain

According to reports found on the web page MEDPAGETODAY (2014) there has been an increase in the independent practice for advanced practice registered nurses (APRN). The article quotes data from the American Association of Nurse Practitioners (AANP) which reports 17 states and the District of Columbia allowing “full practice” with this meaning the APRN evaluates, diagnoses, orders testing, prescribes medication and initiates and manages treatments. 21 states require “collaborative agreement” with a physician and 12 requiring supervision of a physician. Collaborative agreement scope of practice varies by state and institution of employment.

The Gerontology Primary Care Nurse Practitioner competencies entail a combination of acute gerontology and primary care. In order to gain entry into this field, there is need to meet the requirements for an adult-gerontology care nurse practitioner. The competencies of this field are based on the APRN along with NP core competencies. Their scope of practice is based on patient healthcare needs. Their healthcare obligations tend to reflect the work of a national Expert Panel that entails a host of adults related to gerontology and acute care (Geetter, et al., 2013).

More specifically, primary care nurse practitioners, including family practice, gerontology, pediatrics, and women’s health, represent 70 to 80 percent of APRNs (Naylor & Kurtzman, 2010). Nurse practitioners practice in public and private facilities, clinics, schools, and senior residential homes, providing comprehensive services including health promotion, disease prevention, disease, management, and

As the young and rapidly-aging population continues to increase, the demands of primary, acute and chronic disease management will also increase. As a result, more health care professionals who provide primary care will be needed to meet these demands. Thus, the emergence of Advanced Practice Registered Nurse (APRN) evolve. APRN is a nurse who has completed a graduate degree and has acquired advanced knowledge and skills. APRNs are grounded with theory, concepts and principles that enable them to assess, diagnose, treat and manage their patients. APRNs can work in conjunction with other health care professionals or independently. APRNs improve access to health care by providing care in the rural and underserved areas. APRNs also reduce the cost to health care (Joel, 2013).

Advanced practice nurses include Certified Nurse Practitioner (CNP), Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS), Certified Nurse Midwife (CNM) and Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist (CRNA). Certified nurse practitioners provide primary and acute care in hospitals, community clinics, schools and other settings, and perform services such as diagnosing and treating acute illness and injuries, conducting physical exams, providing immunizations and managing chronic problems (American Association of Colleges of Nursing, 2017). The restrictive scope of practice of CNP is a barrier to accessible care. In many states, NPs does not have authority to prescribe medications. This is a disadvantage in providing care efficiently.

The educational requirement for advanced nursing practice is a master’s level education in a program or track leading to APN licensure, including graduate degree-granting and post-graduate certificate programs with established educational standards and attainment of the APN core, role core and population core competencies (National Council of State Boards, 2012). APN’s acquire increased knowledge in the sciences of anatomy, physiology, microbiology, chemistry, pathophysiology, and pharmacology. The core curriculum for the advanced practice role includes priorities in

The role that nurse practitioner (NP) plays within the increasing complex health care system is a constant changing role with the Consensus Model and the introduction of the Affordable Care Act in 2010. The scope of the nurse practitioner (NP) includes the care of the young, the old, the sick and the well. The educational needs of a nurse practitioner vary greatly from that of a Registered Nurse (RN), in the amount of education as well as the focus of the education. NPs provide coordinated primary care with the use of comprehensive health histories and physical examinations, diagnosing and treating acute and chronic illnesses, the management of medications and therapies, ordering and interpreting tests results, and educating and