The healthcare industry is a vast field that offers a plethora of career choices in its different sectors. Within the field, nursing is considered the largest profession, with numerous specialties and growing nursing fields (LeBoeuf, 2022). Different types of nurses have distinct responsibilities and perform unique functions within a healthcare facility. This essay will discuss and examine the roles and responsibilities of advanced practice registered nurses.
Roles of Advanced Nurse Practitioners
Advance practice nurses are registered practitioners with advanced training and qualifications. In order to become an advanced practice nurse, medical professionals are required to obtain a relevant master’s degree and board certification in a specific nursing field (Nurse Journal, 2022b). Advanced nursing practice typically comprises four primary specialties, including nursing practitioner, clinical nurse specialist, nurse anesthetist, and certified nurse midwife (Nurse Journal, 2022b). Nurse anesthetists and midwives specialize in a specific type of nursing and specific populations, while nursing practitioners and clinical specialists can choose their own specialty depending on their interests and predispositions.
The roles of advanced practice registered nurses are closely associated with the selected specialty. Thus, nursing practitioners and clinical nurse specialists play a generalist role as they can perform their professional responsibilities in different settings, including community care as well as primary and acute care (Taylor, 2018). Meanwhile, the roles of nurse anesthetists and certified nurse midwives are more expert. All categories of advanced practice registered nurses play a vital role within healthcare teams of their facilities and are tasked with providing care to patients, assisting physicians, and educating patients on their conditions. Furthermore, some advanced practice nurses may adopt a managerial role in supervising registered nurses.
Responsibilities of Advanced Nurse Practitioners
The responsibilities of advanced practice registered nurses are directly correlated with and vary by their roles. Advanced practice specialties have a greater scope of responsibilities compared to other registered nurses. Specifically, their duties include patient care and diagnosis, treatment management, and medication prescription (Nurse Journal, 2022b). Moreover, they can order various tests in order to diagnose their patients. It should be noted that all the states in the U.S. allow for advanced practice nurses to prescribe drugs (Nurse Journal, 2022a). However, the authority to prescribe medication is limited in some states, with a provision that nurses work collaboratively with a physician to advise and authorize the use of any class of drugs (Nurse Journal, 2022a). In full-practice authority states, advanced practice nurses do not require supervision relating to the medication prescription.
Furthermore, depending on the specialty, different categories of advanced practice registered nurses have additional duties and responsibilities. For example, clinical nurse specialists are responsible for teaching nurses, nursing students, and other staff, educating patients and their families on their conditions, as well as educating the community on important healthcare topics (Deering, 2022). In addition, they can conduct and assist in leading research and practice projects (Deering, 2022). Meanwhile, the primary duties of nurse anesthetists are to assess patients before surgery and administer and monitor anesthesia during surgical procedures. Whereas nurse midwives assist during deliveries and deliver prenatal care to patients.
Conclusion
In summary, the nursing profession includes a variety of specialties, with the role of advanced practice registered nurses comprising more expert roles such as nursing practitioners, clinical nurse specialists, nurse anesthetists, and nurse midwives. Advanced practice nurses have distinct duties and responsibilities depending on the specific role. However, all advanced nurse practitioners bear responsibilities for patient care, diagnosis, prescription of medication and overall course of treatment, and patient education.
References
Deering, M. (2022). Clinical nurse specialist career overview. NurseJournal.
LeBoeuf, R. (2022). 16 types of nurses with job descriptions and salary. Southern New Hampshire University.
Nurse Journal. (2022a). Can nurse practitioners prescribe medication? NurseJournal.
Nurse Journal. (2022b). NP vs. APRN: What’s the difference? NurseJournal.
Taylor, J. (2018). How to become an advanced nurse practitioner. Nursing in Practice.