The Virginia Nurse Practice Act
Degie Gelaw
American Sentinel University
The state of Virginia Nurse Practice Act
Nursing is a profession that requires specialized training, knowledge, skills, and judgment to foster an independent decision making. Practicing nursing is a right granted by the state to safeguard those in need of care and efficient nursing practice is substantiated by the state Nurse Practice Act (NPA). The NPA is ratified by each state based on set guidelines and passed by the state legislature (Russell, 2012). The NPA serves as a corner stone in regulating the duties and responsibilities of the professional nurse. The NPA is founded on set guidelines, however, the states’ board of nursing (BON) has the authority to modify the laws and regulations to fit the desired practice expectations set forth (Russell, 2012). The state of Virginia (VA), where this writer currently practices, has laws and regulations that govern the nursing practice of the Registered Nurse (RN) and the Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS). The purpose of this paper is to discuss the similarities and differences between the role of the RN and the advanced practice nurse as well as to identify if the Virginia NPA identifies the role of an infection prevention nurse specialist.
The Role of the RN
Based on the Virginia NPA, the RN is required to have specialized education and acquire skills based upon knowledge and application of principles of the nursing process from the
Nursing is a health care practice that is more directed onto care of individuals by ensuring their recovery and quality assurance in health. Their scope of practice is differentiated by their approach methodologies. Nursing has diversified and in response to the rise of practice, prior education and training is now effected in many states in America. One of the states, Kentucky, has well-established schools, frontier schools, and colleges to facilitate the dependability of nursing practitioners. In conjunction to the status requirements of nursing and certification of the American nurses Association, the state of Kentucky has formed the Kentucky Board of Nursing, a Commonwealth agency of Kentucky. The board is a distinctive entity in the nursing profession whose objective is to protect the public's health welfare through the development and reinforcement of laws and regulations that govern safe health practice through nursing.
The Nurse Practice Act of Maryland defines “Delegation” as “The act of authorizing an unlicensed individual, a certified nursing assistant (CNA), licensed practical nurse (LPN) or a medication technician to perform acts of registered nursing or licensed practical nursing (Code of Maryland Regulations 10.27.11.02)”. As a registered nurse there are many instances that delegation to an unlicensed individual will be essential in order to provide optimal care to the patient and learning how to be successful in delegation is perhaps one of the hardest things to learn. To ensure that the delegation process is done as safely and smoothly as possible, there are five (5) rights of delegation that should be followed.
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.
It is no secret that communication is key when providing direct patient care in a skilled nursing facility. However, there is a noticeable lapse in the communication between the care team when providing care to the individual or groups of individuals. Two main parts of any care team are the registered nurse and the certified nursing assistant, as these are the two people whom have the most direct and impactful roles with residents in a skilled facility. The Registered Nurse and the Certified Nursing Assistant play similar roles in providing patient care, but have different roles in its entirety. The role of the Registered Nurse (RN) is defined as having the competency and skill to provide direct and indirect health care to individuals, their families, and communities around them. Services are also provided designed to give out medications, to promote comfort or healing, promote healing, and to also provide the dignity of their patients and patient’s families (American College of Rheumatology, 2015).
para. 1). Registered Nurses should be emotionally stable, so they can help the families through rough times (“Registered Nurses” U.S. para. 47). An RN also needs to be organized, and to make sure the patient gets what they need when needed (“Registered Nurses” U.S. para. 48). All RN’s will need to have the patients medical issues, and problems handy and to give the patients, and their medicines when the patients need it (“Registered Nurses” U.S. para. 8). An RN will usually records what the patient is doing, sometimes work with medical machinery, talk to doctors about the patient, and help the patient and the patient’s family on how to deal with their medical problems (“Registered Nurses” U.S. para. 8). Another important thing that an RN will need is to have the physical stamina and to be ready to lift or transfer patients (“Registered Nurses” U.S. para. 49). An RN will have to be able to lift at least 10 pounds, maybe even 20 pounds (“Registered Nurse” para. 4). A person in this career should have an energy level that is somewhat high, has a skill that is interpersonal, and a knowledge that is a little scientific (“Career” para. 6). If you happen to be an RN in a nursing home, an RN will watch over the LPN’s and CNA’s, may start fluids for the patient, make plans for treatments, and manage the patients health
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
Since the inception of the Nurse Practitioner (NP) role in the 1960s, NPs have thrived in the delivery of primary healthcare and nurse case management. Despite patient satisfaction with NPs ' style of care, nurses have been critical of NPs, while physicians have been threatened by NP encroachment on MD practice. Balancing assessment, diagnosis, and treatment with caring defines NPs ' success as primary care providers. Understand the role and Scope of Practice of NPs is sometimes difficult for some to understand. The purpose of this paper is to define the role and history of NP, compare and contrast licensure versus certifications, understand NP Scope Of Practice and Standards of Care, discuss how the State Practice Acts regulate FNP practice, discuss credentialing and privileging, and differentiate between legislative and regulatory processes.
Under the scope of practice of an RN from the New York State Education Department, an RN can diagnose and treat human responses to actual or potential health problems. To be able to perform those tasks a care plan must be made for each client. An RN manages the health care services such as observing and assessing the health status of clients and implementing/assessing nursing care. This all falls under the initial assessment of a client, which is within the scope of an RN. An RN uses information gathered as part of client assessment, they then have the capacity to assign client care to other members of the nursing team, RNs and LPNs, and assign tasks to other care providers such as nurse’s assistant. Even though there are parts of the nursing process that may be delegated to qualified personnel, the initial assessment is the RNs responsibility. The initial assessment is the basis for safe and appropriate client care, which makes it so vital and why not just anyone can perform it. RNs hold the overall responsibility in the nursing
The report shows that the part of nursing must be expanded so that nurses are able to practice to the fullest degree of their education and training. Currently, advanced practice nurses (APRNs) work according to the scope of practice guidelines set forth by their individual state, meaning these highly educated nurses may not be working to the extent of their training but to the individual state laws. The report offers recommendations to streamline these idiosyncrasies and get rid of the red tape so that nurses can work in their appropriate manner and deliver safe quality care to some 32 million Americans who will before long gain access to health care services (American Association of Colleges of Nursing [AACN], 2012). The report correspondingly finds that nurses need to attain advanced levels of education and training through an enhanced education structure which encourages a cohesive academic progression as to safeguard the delivery of quality health care services. Patients are becoming progressively more complex and nurses need to attain the proper skills to care for these persons. Nursing education must embrace the continuous move towards a streamline approach to higher degree programs (Institute of Medicine [IOM], 2010, p. 2). Nurse residency programs
The Nursing Practice Act (NPA) is the body of California law that mandates the Board to set out the scope of practice and responsibilities for RNs. The Practice Act is located in the California Business and Professions Code starting with Section 2700. Regulations that specify the implementation of the law appear in the California Code of Regulations ("Board Of Nursing", n.d.). What is the NPA? How does it affect nurses? What are the requirements for getting a nursing license from the Board of Nursing? All of these are important questions for someone to ponder when considering joining the nursing
Registered nurses normally take on three education paths, an associate degree in nursing, a bachelor’s degree in nursing, or a diploma that’s must be approved from a nursing program. Registered nurse must be licensed. It is an exciting profession, the working environment
There is an increasing demand for nurse practitioners, which makes this a crucial period in the development of their practice and profession. Nurse practitioners must face increased opportunity and continuing opposition towards independent practice all while defining their role in health care delivery and establishing their connections. The practice of nurse practitioners still varies widely across the states. These inconsistencies make it difficult for nurse practitioners as well as patients when practice
Involvement of nurses in patient care substantially improves the quality of care and reduces medical errors. A study conducted by RWJF at John Hopkins University has found significant reduction in blood stream infection can be achieved by nurses leading the
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
These impose severe constrictions on the ability of the nurse to move forward or advance into the areas of practice where traditional nursing practices were not allowed {Institute of Medicine, 2010}. However with the increase in the number of nurses graduating with advance degrees in nursing; the situation is changing. These well educated nurses are leading the charge to confront the complex issues that the rapidly changing health care situation presents. Regulatory barriers must be lifted so that nurses can practice within their scope in order to be reimbursed by private insurance for the services they provide. These changes can be done through the federal and state legislators as well as supervisory agencies and bodies such as congress and licensing regulatory boards. The IOM also recommends that nurses will expand their scope of practice and increase their responsibility through teaching and counseling of patients. {Institute of Medicine,2010}. The use of Advance Practice Registered Nurses and Physician Assistant in providing primary care services will decrease wait time and increase patient satisfaction. The high turnover of nurses transitioning from school to practice also affects the quality of care. These nurses do not have enough experience to make decisions in patient care.{Institute of Medicine,2010}.The IOM and JCAHO{2012} report supports the recommendations for the introduction of nursing residency