NR 510 Week 6 TD

NR 510 Week 6 TD PART 1: You have completed your nurse practitioner education, likely one of the most challenging tasks you have ever undertaken. Several of your graduated colleagues live in different states, including California, Washington, and Illinois. After a year of primary care practice in your respective states, you get together for a reunion and share your practice perspectives. It is apparent that your experiences are not equal. Discussion Question: How do licensure, accreditation, certification, and education (LACE) considerations differ for APN clinical roles for these three states: California, Washington and Illinois? Provide evidence for your response. LACE stands for licensing, accreditation, certification, and education (APNA, 2017). The model for LACE defines the practice for advanced practice nurses, identifies titles, defines and approves specialty tracks, and defines how new roles and population focuses may develop (APNA, 2017). It is important that Students, educators, and advanced practice nurses understand the differences of these 4 terms. Licensure is decided by state agencies whose legislature dictates licensure requirements (APNA, 2017). Accreditation regards the evaluation of educational institutes in order to determine if they meet requirements set forth by the accrediting bodies (APNA, 2017). Certification regards showing one has the skills, knowledge, and abilities in a certain specialty area by certification processes (APNA, 2017). Certification is different from licensure because it allows a licensed practitioner to certify in a specialty area. Education refers to master’s and post-masters or doctoral programs; when deciding which educational institute to attend, one should choose the appropriate accredited program (APNA, 2017). For one to obtain advanced practice licensure in the state of California, one must graduate a master’s degree program in the area of their preferred specialization that is accredited by the National League of Nursing (NLN). The other 2 choices California offers is earning a certification via an accepted organization or by completing an equivalent program (Nursing Licensure, 2017). California recognizes 6 areas of practice for APRN, they include nurse practitioner, public health nurse, clinical nurse specialist, psychiatric health nurse, nurse anesthetist, and nurse midwife (Alleman & Houle, 2013). APRN’s and nurse midwives need a furnishing number before California will authorize them to prescribe medications (Nursing Licensure, 2017). An application for the furnishing number must be submitted along with the application for nurse practitioner certification or licensure (State of California, 2016). In Washington, before one can become an APRN, they first must complete a APRN program that is accredited and recognized by the United States Department of Education (USDE) (Nursing Licensure, 2017). Washington recognizes 3 categories of APRN’s, which include NP, CNM, and CRNA (Nursing Licensure, 2017).