Although advanced nurse practitioner (ANP) and advanced practice nurse (APN) are often used interchangeably, the two are quite different. APN denotes a practicing provider who has acquired training to care for specific patients such as adult nurse practitioner and family nurse consultant. ANPs, on the other hand, are registered nurses who have extra training and academic experience – they examine, assess, diagnose and treat patients (Gysin et al., 2019). Gysin et al. (2019) further defined advanced nursing practice as a level of practice such as master’s level – the individual is qualified to practice at advanced level “as part of multidisciplinary teams across all clinical settings” (p. 6). In addition to this, there are four main roles in APN pertaining to clinical practice, health information, education and administration. These roles are clinical nursing specialist (CNS), certified nurse-midwife (CNM), nurse practitioner (NP), and certified registered nurse anesthetist (CRNA).
From the four roles highlighted above, I find nurse practitioner as the most suitable option for me based on my experiences and qualities. One of the qualities that informed my decision revolves around being a caring and compassionate communicator. I usually make meaningful connections with my patients through both verbal and non-verbal communication. In fact, my patience has, on several occasions, enabled me to interact with patients – they talk freely and honestly about their symptoms which aided with diagnosis and treatment. Similarly, NP is appropriate to me because I have participated severally in local, regional and national conferences.
Personal Nursing Philosophy
As a future nursing practitioner, my aim will be to provide individualized care to my patients as opposed to just focusing on the illness, injury or condition they may be suffering from. I would strive to ensure they feel comfortable, respected and confident in my services (Bolton, 2019). The model that helped me describe my philosophy is Individualized Patient Care (IPC) which puts into consideration patients’ priorities.
Selected Advanced Practice Role
The selected advanced practice role as indicated above is nursing practioner (NP). The required competencies for this position include scientific foundation, leadership, quality, practice inquiry, technology and information literacy, policy, health delivery system and ethics. For instance, the core competencies under scientific foundation include being able to critically analyze data and evidence as well as ability to develop new practice approach based on integration of theory (Vacek et al., 2019). Furthermore, the certification requirement for NP includes having a master’s degree, post-graduate certificate or DNP from a family nurse practitioner program accredited by Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education. However, to obtain certification as a nurse practitioner, one must successfully pass the national board certification in the selected specialty as well as acquire the correct license in a particular state. Since I intend to work in Illinois, the legal requirements do not compel me to enter a collaborative practice agreement with a physician. However, the NP must meet the following requirements: have additional 250 hours of continuous education and about 4000 hours of clinical experience. Similarly, in this state, NPs are regulated by the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR) and the Board of Nursing.
Leadership Attributes of the Advanced Practice Role
Nurse practitioners are constantly being challenged to practice to the full extent of their experience and skills. In achieving this, NPs must embody the following leadership attributes: perseverance, risk-taking and effective communication. Therefore, the type of transformational leadership adopted by NPs should be tailored towards the ability to rely on their innate curiosity in identifying new approaches and opportunities as well as being able to communicate the same to experts and followers. It therefore follows that the leadership style that I will embrace as an APN in primary care is transformational leadership. This style will help me a lot in introducing change within the care facility – it will ensure I develop the skills needed to accommodate different stakeholder viewpoints about change. Most importantly, this leadership style will allow me to motivate nurses to take ownership in their roles and perform them to the best of their skills– the leader appeals to their desire to demonstrate higher moral values.
Health Policy and the Advanced Practice Role
The current policy that relates to NP and being practiced in the state of Illinois is allowing the nurse practitioners to practice without entering into a written collaborative agreement with a doctor. The only condition attached to this is that the NPs must meet certain educational and training standards (Eswaran et al., 2020). A closer look at this policy it is clear that it does not require any change. This is because the removal of the professional barriers in Illinois has ensured health care become more affordable.
In conclusion, although advanced nurse practice and advanced practice are often used interchangeably, they are quite different. Each has specific roles with APN consisting of clinical nursing specialist (CNS), certified nurse-midwife (CNM), nurse practitioner (NP), and certified registered nurse anesthetist (CRNA). As discussed above, nursing practitioner role was selected based on my experience and skills. In Illinois, the legal requirements do not compel one to a collaborative practice agreement with a physician. However, the law requires one to meet certain educational standards such as 250 hours of continuous education.
References
Bolton, L. (2019). Peripheral arterial disease: Scoping review of patient‐centred outcomes. International Wound Journal, 16(6), 1521-1532. Web.
Eswaran, V., Allen, K. C., Bottari, D. C., Splawski, J. A., Bains, S., Aks, S. E., & Kim, H. S. (2020). Take-home naloxone program implementation: Lessons learned from seven Chicago-area hospitals. Annals of emergency medicine, 76(3), 318-327. Web.
Gysin, S., Sottas, B., Odermatt, M., & Essig, S. (2019). Advanced practice nurses’ and general practitioners’ first experiences with introducing the advanced practice nurse role to Swiss primary care: A qualitative study. BMC family practice, 20(1), 1-11. Web.
Vacek, L. D., & Vuckovic, K. M. (2019). Pharmacotherapeutic preparation for nurse practitioner full practice authority. The Journal for Nurse Practitioners, 15(7), 131-134. Web.