Advanced Practice Nurses are licensed registered nurses prepared at the graduate degree level as either a Nurse-Midwife, Nurse Practitioner, Clinical Nurse Specialist, or Nurse Anesthetist.
Advanced Practice Nurses should hold a graduate degree and be certified in their specialty. This certification is important because it validates and standardizes the practice competencies of the Advanced Practice Nurses.
Nurses prepared at the graduate level function in a variety of roles as advanced practice nurses in specialty areas of practice. The following will list and detail the roles and scope of Advanced Practice Nurses:
1. Nurse Practitioner (NP). These professionals might work in primary care, long-term care, tertiary care, or community care venues. Nurse practitioners have the ability to write prescriptions and are involved in the management of health problems through examination, diagnosis, education, and counseling.
2. Clinical Nurse-Specialist (CNS). These professionals serve their patients in tertiary care centers, ambulatory care centers, home health care venues, and in community care settings. They are involved in the management of complex patient health care problems through direct care, consultation, education, and research roles.
3. Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist (CRNA). These professionals work in hospital operating rooms, surgical settings, and in ambulatory care. They treat anyone undergoing surgical procedures, and they are involved in pre-operative assessments, the administration of anesthesia, and the management of post-anesthesia recovery.
4. Certified Nurse-Midwife (CNM). These professionals serve childbearing women in homes, hospitals, birthing centers, and ambulatory care arenas. Certified nurse-midwives teach their clients well-women health care, the management of pregnancy, health promotion, and antepartum and postpartum care.
Furthermore, each of these nurses has obtained a graduate level nursing degree and they have demonstrated a specialized knowledge specific to their patient population. Professional nursing certification is necessary because it validates and standardizes the competencies of the Advanced Practice Nurse; standardization results in better patient outcomes. These depictions are intended to provide you, the reader, with a better understanding of what is an Advanced Practice Nurse.