The federal policy that has a significant impact on the role of the advanced practice registered nurse is the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). The policy strengthens the privacy of the patients’ personal information by providing them with several sets of rights such as the right to obtain records within a limited time and receive information on the disclosure of their data. However, compliance with the policy puts an additional burden on the nursing staff, both in terms of responsibility and workload. The former is especially evident in the field of research, where the recruitment and retention of a sample have been complicated as a result of HIPAA implementation (Freedman, Cantor, Merriman, & Edgerton, 2016).
The public policy that has a significant impact on the role of APRN is a set collectively known as the Asthma and Allergy Policies for schools. The high standards formulated in the policies emphasize the necessity to fail schools to implement effective policies, mostly due to the shortage of school nurses (MDNow, 2017). By extension, advanced practice registered nurses is assigned additional responsibility since they are expected to provide the population with the relevant information on the condition as well as educate them on related phenomena such as smoking.
The social program expected to impact the APRN role in SSI Disability. The program provides benefits for individuals with disabilities, including the stay in a nursing home. By extension, the nurses providing care in the facility are expected to face increased admission rates and would be expected to demonstrate proficiency in the specific field, including the areas of counseling, diagnosis, medication administration, and specificities of interaction with the population segment in question.
Professional Development of the Advanced Practice Nurse
Advanced Practice Nurse (APN) is a broad term that encompasses a wide array of specialties that may be significantly different in some instances. On the other hand, both the Primary Care Provider (PCP) and the Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP) are narrowly defined specialties within nursing practice. Importantly, both FNP and PCP are commonly included as subcategories of the APN profession. While some of the concepts are shared between the three, they are different in scope, audience, and the choice of practices.
By the differences in responsibilities, the FNP PCPs and Acute Care Nurse Practitioners (ACNPs) have different educational requirements. Specifically, the FNPs are expected to recognize a wide array of conditions and issues and observe them over time to identify the possible trends. Therefore, their training is focused on a holistic aspect of care and must include treatment management as a training component. A master’s degree is sufficient for FNPs in the majority of cases. The PCPs are expected to identify multiple conditions without the availability of the previous medical history of the patient, which necessitates an educational focus on the treatment coordination in several disciplines. Thus, the medical school graduation and a medical residency for primary care are required. On the other hand, the ACNPs, who deal with severe acute and chronic conditions, is required to finish a college program with a clinical component, a license confirming their skills, and a master degree in acute care combined with a nationally recognized certificate (Nursing License Map, n.d.).
As can be seen from the information above, the identified specialties have somewhat different competencies. The FNP PCPs are expected to provide treatment for a wide variety of non-severe conditions, which is usually done within their office. If it is not possible to perform such treatment, they then refer the patient to a qualified specialist and offer assistance in the management of the disease. Their family-oriented approach also includes healthy lifestyle advocacy that commonly acknowledges family-specific conditions like genetic predispositions towards certain diseases. The proficiencies of ACNPs, on the other hand, are more focused on the stabilization and improvement of patients’ health outcomes. Simply put, both competencies are aimed at the promotion of health. However, the former specializes in prevention whereas the latter deal with the interventions.
Due to the described differences in competencies, the scopes of practice characteristic for the identified fields are also different in minor details. For instance, the ACNPs work in a wide variety of clinical settings, including retirement homes, hospitals, hospices, physicians’ offices, clinics, and private practices. On the other hand, FNP PCPs rarely operate in settings other than private practices since they mostly offer in-office treatment. For the same reasons, the ACNPs often treat patients that are admitted to a specific clinical setting with a clearly defined presenting problem and are in apparent need of care. On the other hand, the FNP PCPs routinely deal with healthy patients as well as those whose health issue is minor, not defined before the visit, and may require only minor intervention. Finally, it should be mentioned that the FNP PCPs require an AANP FNP certification as well as a local or state FNP licensing to practice whereas ACNPs operate under the AGACNP-BC certification and are required an active RN license (NPSchools, n.d.).
References
Freedman, R. S., Cantor, S. B., Merriman, K. W., & Edgerton, M. E. (2016). 2013 HIPAA changes provide opportunities and challenges for researchers: Perspectives from a cancer center. Clinical Cancer Research, 22(3), 533-539.
MDNow. (2017). New report breathes concern into Florida’s school asthma practices. Web.
NPSchools. (n.d.). How do I become a Family Nurse Practitioner? Web.
Nursing License Map. (n.d.). Adult-Gerontology Acute Care Nurse Practitioner (AG-ACNP). Web.