Introduction
The APRN’s scope of practice depends significantly on the regulations in the particular state. Certified nurse midwives, nurse practitioners, nurse anesthetists, and clinical nurses belong to the category of APRN. The demographic tendencies show that the population in the United States will become older, and the expected need for professional nurses is almost 50% during the next decade (NCSL., 2022). Colleges, in turn, do not prepare enough nurses to satisfy the aging population’s needs and increase life expectancy. It shows that American public healthcare faces a general shortage of qualified nursing personnel, which requires precise attention to this sphere.
Discussion
It is especially critical for nurses to meet the scope of practice connected with the specific regulations and rules that guide the professional’s actions. The scope of practice allows nurses to understand their responsibilities at work and describe the expected level of professionalism that is vital for the nurse’s work. It ensures their nurse has the required education, practice, and licensing to perform her tasks. At the same time, it shows the nurses where they have autonomy for actions and where they should share responsibilities with the physician. The nurse needs to understand the legislation concerning the nurse’s scope of practice when the person moves to another state that can have a completely different view on similar medical actions (NCSL., 2022). For example, the legislation on abortions is other in American states, and the nurse should be aware of these peculiarities when she starts working in another city. It is possible to see all regulations concerning the scope of practice in a particular state, including Arkansas, on the official site. The laws show that the state’s policy affects the views on nurses’ work directly.
There is a difference between the full and restricted scope of practice based on the state of licensure in Arkansas and Oklahoma. Restricted scope of practice describes the general principles according to which the professional nurse should work, including the delegation of professional duties, long-term supervision of the nurse, and solving partisan issues at the workplace with the provider of medical services. The full scope of practice, in turn, is a more detailed description of the responsibilities of the professional nurse. It includes the level of education required for the particular work, the governmental authorities who have the legal opportunity to give licenses to nurses, the activities that the APRN nurse has to perform at the workplace, her functions in the healthcare team, and the roles she might perform. Arkansas is where the nurses work according to the reduced scope of practice (NCSL., 2022). In difficult decisions, physicians and nurses from Arkansas consult the medical board.
APRNs face various legal, regulatory, and credentialing issues in their work. They include such state laws as drug enforcement administration and prescriptive authority. Credential issues include the level of education and certification the nurses require to become APRNs. The Consensus Model for APRNs describes the current situation concerning the accreditation of advanced practice nurses (NCSL., 2022). The regulatory aspect of the APRN is connected with the privacy and safety issues that advanced practice nurses face daily. It shows that the work of APRNs is associated with numerous official details that restrict their activity, but at the same time, they protect the nurses. For example, the advanced nurse understands where she has the legal right to decide the treatment process and where she has to ask for the piece of advice from her co-workers. In most cases, the regulations give advanced nurses a clear understanding of how to optimize their work.
The barriers that continue to exist for APRNs include various aspects essential in public healthcare. There is a shortage of professional nurses with licenses to perform complicated and specialized tasks—the questions concerning the independent work of the APRN without supervision from the physician. In addition, there is a lack of social and professional recognition of this work (NCSL., 2022). Even though the number of skilled nurses has increased stably during the last few years, and colleges continue to prepare them, there is still much work in this sphere. There is a shortage of APRNs, and many young people do not choose this career due to its comparatively low status in society. It is less well-paid and prestigious than the physician, but it requires much knowledge and practice from the person.
Professionalism in nursing is connected with the patient-centered approach, responsibility, and working according to all healthcare standards. These concepts pertain to APRNs because they share the same code of ethics as other healthcare professionals (NCSL., 2022). As a result, the advanced nurse also makes everything possible to improve the physical and emotional state of the patient, she is responsible for the decisions concerning the treatment process, and she works according to the rules that are the same for all healthcare professionals in the United States (NCSL., 2022). It makes the work of the advanced nurse standard from the point of view of professionalism in healthcare.
At the same time, professionalism in the APRN role is slightly different from the professionalism in my current registered nurse (RN) role due to more duties at the workplace. The APRN has more autonomy at work, but it imposes more responsibilities on her decisions, which is complicated. The APRN works with drug prescriptions and is fully responsible for the way the patient uses these medications, while the registered nurse can share this responsibility with the physician, and she does not make such decisions alone (NCSL., 2022). The patient might misuse serious drugs that might lead to the person’s disability or death, and the advanced practice nurse will be legally responsible for these adverse health outcomes. This responsibility is an essential component of the work of the advanced nurse. Even though she has significantly more autonomy in the decisions that she makes at the workplace, she also has more duties, which is challenging in practice. Therefore, the APRN nurse should be more qualified and assured in her professional skills to support her qualification than the registered nurse.
Conclusion
The advanced practice registered nurse (APRN) must improve professional qualifications to correspond to this level. The qualification includes the particular level of practice, regulations, and legal issues connected with this work. A high level of professionalism is essential for this group of nurses, supported by licensing and master’s degrees in their specialization. It is possible to assume that an advanced practice career in nursing requires much practice, knowledge, and legal certification of professionalism. A high level of qualification allows them to have more autonomy in clinical decisions but also imposes many responsibilities on them.
Reference
NCSL. (2022). “Scope of practice policy. Arkansas.” Scopeofpracticepolicy.org, Web.