, Exemplar #1
NR-510-0 Leadership and Role of the APN (November 2016)
APN Professional Development Plan
Registered Nurses, who have chosen to pursue a career in Advanced Practice Nursing, face several
obstacles during the transition from clinical to advanced practice nursing. One of those obstacles is the role
confusion. As RN, the nurse is primarily executing physician orders. As an NP, the nurse has to manage to
effectively combine the nursing knowledge with the medical knowledge in order to provide the best care.
Those skills are built during the years spent as a student as new knowledge is gained (DeNisco, 2016).
Another important point in the education of the NP is the detailed knowledge of the NP’s scope of
practice, and especially the scope in the State of the NP’s intended practice. There are differences between the
NP’s scope of practice from state to state. Nurse Practitioners also have to develop a positive relationship with
physicians in order to overcome differences and prejudice that currently exist between both professions. Last
but not least, NP’s have to be able to educate patients and families on the scope of practice and knowledge that
they can provide in order to alleviate doubts regarding Advanced Practice Nursing that currently exist
(DeNisco, 2016).
One of the strategies for the APN students to achieve a smooth role transition is the crafting of an APN
professional development plan. By doing this, the APN students would have a clear idea regarding the NP
scope of practice, the potential issues related to their future practice, their individual competence, and the
strategies needed to secure their first job (DeNisco, 2016).
As an FNP student, residing and planning to work in Ohio, my professional development plan would
outline my career plans as they relate to the rules and regulations in this particular state.
NP Scope of Practice.
In Ohio, the Nurse Practitioners currently are not allowed to practice independently. Each NP has to enter a
Standard Care Arrangement with a physician, who is a part of the practice that the NP is involved with. This
agreement is a subject to review every two years (Lawriter, 2016). The NP is also allowed to prescribe
, medications (including schedule II substances) after obtaining a Certificate to Prescribe (Ohio Board of
Nursing, 2016). In the state of Ohio, a direct physician supervision is not required. The NP has to be able to
connect to the collaborating physician if needed by phone, internet, radio, or in person (Lawriter, 2016). There
is a change in the APN certification, which would be implemented in 2017. Instead of issuing a certificate, the
state would issue an APRN license, which would specify the particular certification of the holder (Molnar,
2016). Although, the collaborating with a physician is still required in Ohio, the tendencies are for expanding
the NP scope of practice in the future.
Personal Assessment.
It is very important for an NP graduate student to conduct a personal assessment in order to determine the
level of competence and readiness for starting a new career. One such assessment is the Benner’s novice to
expert self-assessment (DeNisco, 2016). Since this is a new role, all students would start their careers at the
novice level. However, a basic competence and knowledge is necessary in order to advance to the next levels
of advanced beginner, competent, proficient, and finally, the highest level of expert. It is important for the NP
student to carefully examine his or her biggest strengths in order to choose an area of practice that would
provide the smoothest role-transition possible. To help with this decision, there are several different points to
be reviewed, such as desired areas of development, expectations of the new role, potential fears and
anticipated issues, expected gains, strategies for coping with stress, and setting of initial goals and objectives
to fulfil in the first few months of the new role.
After taking those points under consideration, for my personal assessment, I have determined that as I have the
most experience in emergency room settings, I would feel more comfortable to start my career in an Express
Care or Minor Emergency ER setting. As I have worked with NP’s in those settings for several years, I am
familiar of the nature of their duties, and I would feel more comfortable to begin from there. As I complete the
role transition and reach a higher level on the Benner’s scale, I would consider advancing toward the more
involved Family Practice career.
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