Advanced Practice Nursing (APN) Roles

Advanced practice nursing (APN) roles are diverse and encompass many different areas of nursing practice. Although nurse practitioners are often singled out as the primary APN role; APN roles can be clinical, educational, consultative, or leadership based. The advanced practice registered nurse is described by the American Nurses Association (ANA) as a masters-prepared nurse with expert knowledge, decision making skills, and clinical competencies (Krista, Kaisa, Riitta, & Anna-Maija, 2014). Advocating for advanced nursing degrees, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) in conjunction with the Robert Wood Johnsons Foundation published a report in 2010 that suggested nurses with higher degrees would improve the quality of patient care, accessibility

Gonclaves discussed the importance of evidence-based research and practice. Evidence-based research and practice is essential in both APN roles as an educator and informatics today. The APN utilize evidence-based research to improve practice and outcomes for patients. For example, evidence-based research has shown that bar-code medication charting can reduce medication administration errors though positive patient and drug identification, there for reducing risk for patients and improving outcomes. Dr. Goncalves thoughts on nursing theory were thought-provoking. She acknowledged how foreign nursing theory may seem at first, but as one learns more and appreciates different theoretical models; the practical application of theory becomes evident in everyday practice. She cited Benner’s Novice to Expert Theory as model that can be easily applied to both education and nursing informatics. In both education and informatics there are transitions in practice based on gaining

Additional legislation defines the practice of midwifes and advanced practice registered nurses (APRN). By the Connecticut Scope of Practice, nursing is described as the practice of diagnosing actual or potential health problems, providing supportive care, and education, under the direct supervision of a licensed physician or APRN. The State of Connecticut is one of twenty-two states that allow APRN full prescriptive practice. State Bill 36 bill sponsored by the Governor of Connecticut to improve health care access, passed the bill in April 2014 that allows for APRN to practice independently without the supervision of physician (Connecticut Nurses Association [CNA], 2015).

Advance Practice Nursing Theory and Evidence-based Practice

Advance practice nursing theory and evidence-based nursing practice is necessary to establish nursing as a profession. Since the 1950’s nursing has attempted to connect theory with practice, however many models were difficult to utilize at the bedside and did not make sense to the bed-side practitioner (McCrae, 2011). For the APN interested in education and informatics, Patricia Benner’s, Novice to Expert nursing model can be applied since it describes the milestones of practice from the novice nursing to expert nursing practice (Christensen, 2011).

Analysis of Nursing Theory and the Use in Guiding