NSG 6006 APN Chapter 3 Study Guide

NSG 6006 APN Chapter 3 Study Guide Chapter 3 A Definition of Advanced Practice Nursing Ann B. Hamric This chapter considers two central questions that provide the foundation for this text: • •Why is it important to define carefully and clearly what is meant by the term advanced practice nursing? • •What distinguishes the practices of advanced practice nurses (APNs) from those of other nurses and other health care providers? Advanced practice nursing is considered here as a concept, not a role, a set of skills, or a substitution for physicians. Rather, it is a powerful idea, the origins of which date back more than a century. Such a conceptual definition provides a stable core understanding for all APN roles (see Chapter 2), it promotes consistency in practice that can aid others in understanding what this level of nursing entails, and it promotes the achievement of value-added patient outcomes and improvement in health care delivery processes. Advanced practice nursing is a relatively new concept in nursing's evolution (see Chapter 1). Although debates and dissention are necessary and even healthy in forging consensus, ultimately the profession must agree on the key issues of definition, education, credentialing, and practice. This agreement is critically important to the survival, much less the growth, of advanced practice nursing. In this chapter, advanced practice nursing is defined and the scope of practice of APNs is discussed. Various APN roles are differentiated and key factors influencing advanced practice in health care environments are identified. The importance of a common and unified understanding of the distinguishing characteristics of advanced practice nursing is emphasized.