Advanced Practice Nursing Essay

Often times advanced practice nurses are considered to be doctors/physicians but the fact remains that they are still nursing, practicing with advanced skill sets while providing care to patients. According to Hamric, Hanson, Tracy & O’Grady (2014), advanced practice nursing involves broadening the scope of practice for registered nurses through additional education and training (p. 70). It can also be noted that all advanced practice nurses are trained and prepared for their jobs with the same or similar basic competencies, although specific fields may require different specialization training while some require certain prerequisites such as work experience such as CRNA schools often require a certain amount of critical care experience for candidates and certified nurse midwives may require an amount of experience in the women’s health field (Hamric, Hanson, Tracy, &

37). These eight competencies include but are not limited to how advanced practice nurse assess patients, providing for therapeutic relationships between patients and medical professionals and educating patients through their care about specific circumstances while making decisions that positively affect outcomes (Hamric, Hanson, Tracy, & O'Grady, 2014, p. 37). The APRN Consensus identifies seven criteria for advanced practice registered nurses which include but are not limited to completion of graduate courses in the field of nursing, has obtained the necessary education and skills to care directly for patients including managing patients through the disease process including the ability to use medicinal agents within their designated scope of practice, and obtaining and maintaining required licensure to practice as an APRN in the respective specialization of choice (Hamric, Hanson, Tracy, & O'Grady, 2014, p.