Advanced Leadership Practice in Nursing

3718 Words15 Pages
Advanced Practice Nursing
Introduction
Nursing as a profession is a vast and diverse field where opportunities abound. When one chooses to enter into the field of nursing, the career paths available are almost endless, from the Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA), to the Registered Nurse (RN), to the Advanced Practice Registered Nurse (APRN), to Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP). The Nurse may be found in a myriad of settings from the Nursing home to the Hospital Emergency Room, from the Classroom to the Prison, from the family practice office to the Dialysis Center, and countless other places. There are certifications and specialties such as the Certified Emergency Nurse (CEN), the Certified Critical Care Nurse (CCRN), the Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS), and the Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP), just to name a few. When it is all said and done, one could finish his or her nursing Career with a String of letters after her name that include more letters than those comprising the English alphabet itself.
A comparison of different Roles At the postgraduate level the RN obtains a degree as a Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) or a Doctorate of Nursing Practice (DNP). After receiving a degree one must then choose a role in which one will practice. We will briefly compare four roles: Nurse Practitioner, Nurse Educator, Nurse Administrator, and Nurse Informaticist. Some roles are considered to be Advanced Practice Nursing Roles, and some are not. By definition “Advanced practice nursing is a concept that applies to nurses who provide direct patient care to individual patients and families. As a consequence, APN roles involve expanded clinical skills and abilities and require a different level of regulation than non-APN roles” (Hamric, Hanson, Tracy, & O’Grady, 2014, p. 70). The Roles of the Nurse Practitioner and the Nurse Educator are APN roles, while the roles of
Open Document