Certification And Education As Determinants Of Nurse Practitioner Scope Of Practice: An Investigation Of The Rules And Regulations Defining Np Scope Of Practice In The United States

Keywords

Acute care nurse practitioner; Adult gerontology acute care nurse practitioner; Advanced practice nursing; Nurse practitioner certification; Nurse practitioner education; Nurse practitioner scope of practice

Abstract

Purpose and background: In 2008, a consortium of advanced practice nursing organizations authored the Consensus Model for APRN Regulation: Licensure, Accreditation, Certification, and Education. The document's aim is to provide guidance for states to adopt uniformity in the regulation of advanced practice registered nurse roles. Despite a target date to complete that work by 2015, there remains an extensive amount of variation in how states define the scope of practice (SOP) for nurse practitioners (NPs). Data sources: Based on the National Council of State Boards of Nursing online database, state (N = 51 [includes the District of Columbia]) NP practice acts and/or rules and regulations documents were examined for language describing SOP for NPs consistent with the language of the advanced practice registered nurse (APRN) Consensus Model. Conclusions: Results indicated that 18 states and the District of Columbia (37%) had specific regulations defining NP SOP by certification and/or educational preparation while 23 (45%) did not. The remaining nine states (18%) had SOP regulations that were interpreted as being ambiguous in relation to certification and/or educational preparation. Implications for practice: The findings suggest much work is needed to ensure NP SOP accurately reflects NP board-certification and graduate educational preparation.

Publication Date

10-1-2015

Publication Title

Journal of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners

Volume

27

Issue

10

Number of Pages

552-557

Document Type

Article

Personal Identifier

scopus

DOI Link

https://doi.org/10.1002/2327-6924.12261

Socpus ID

84944278517 (Scopus)

Source API URL

https://api.elsevier.com/content/abstract/scopus_id/84944278517

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