Certification In Nursing

Before the emergence of advanced practice nurses, the diagnosis and treatment of medical problems are exclusively covered under physicians. The role of nurses is to carry out physicians’ orders. The introduction of an advanced nursing role into the healthcare system is a complex process and is influenced by many factors. Andregård and Jangland (2015) described the process as “a tortuous journey towards a partially unknown destination”. This article will begin with a brief overview of the nurse practitioner’s role, review the definition of licensure and how it differs to certification, discuss the relevance of State Practice Acts to the practice of acute care nurse practitioners (ACNPs), and uncover the challenges and issues related to ACNP

Certification is defined as the state of qualification that endorses a practicing profession’s ability (Certification, 2013). Both licensure and certification share the same goal as to protect the safety of public. However, licensure defines the APRN scope of practice by predetermined criteria, and the certification determines whether the nurse has acquired the competency-based knowledge necessary to practice as an APRN (Alleman & Houle, 2013). The purpose of the certification is to ensure professional competency by defining the skills, clinical experiences, and knowledge necessary to the practice (American Academy of Nurse Practitioners Certificate Program [AANPCP],

As each state independently determines the APRN scope of practice, a vaguely worded SPAs that describe the scope of APRN practice, for example, as acts of advanced nursing practicing can undermine the course of action for future practices. The interpreters can manipulate the descriptions of what constitute these acts. It can be interpreted strictly as providing nursing services and, therefore, will not provide a sound legal basis for arguments that APRNs should receive full-service fee for providing physician services. It is apparently difficult to argue to the state legislators and policymakers that the acts of advanced nursing practicing are parallel to the acts to perform physician