APN Professional Development Plan
The American Nursing Association (n.d) defines the scope of practice as the services that an experienced and qualified healthcare professional can perform and deemed fit to execute. In other words, the scope of practice is fulfilling the terms in the professional nursing license. It defines what, who, when, where, and why of nursing practice. Apart from understanding their scope of practice, every nurse practitioner (NP) is needed to understand their core competencies once they graduate from school to improve their knowledge on what they should do when providing care in a healthcare setting.
Creating NP core competencies was given to the National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties (NONPF). The NONPF has defined NP core competencies in nine broad areas: quality, scientific foundations, policy, ethics, practice inquiry, independent practice, health delivery system, leadership, and technology and information literacy. Nurses are also needed to have leadership skills that can help them provide quality and safe care. The purpose of the assignment is to explore NP practice requirements in the State of Florida and NP competencies and leadership skills that can support NP’s professional development.
APA Scope of Practice
I intend to practice in the State of Florida. The educational requirement for a registered nurse to become a certified APN in the state is to have a master’s or post-master program degree in the nursing major. However, the requirement does not apply to nurses who graduated before October 1st, 1998, and nurse anesthetists who graduated before October 1st, 2001 (Florida Board of Nursing, n.d). The individual must also have a certificate from a recognized nursing specialty board.
Some of the boards include the American College of Nurse-Midwives, American Academy of Nurse Practitioners, American Nurses Credentialing Center, American Association of Critical-Care Nurses, National Board for Certification of Hospice and Palliative Nurses, National Board of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners and Associates, and Oncology Nursing Certification Corporation. The individual must also have an RN license to get a certification to practice as an APN in the state. The individual is also mandated to take a two-hour course about medical errors prevention.
The nurse must also have liability insurance, provide supporting documents to affirm criminal history, transcripts of educational certificates, and fingerprint-based background checks. Individuals with a Florida RN license are required to pay $100, and the ones applying for both credentials concurrently are required to pay $210 (Florida Board of Nursing, n.d). A law was passed to allow APNs in Florida to practice to the full extent of their training and education.
The law notes that for ANPs to operate independently without attending a doctor, they must have accumulated at 3000 hours of experience under the supervision of a physician (Florida House of Representatives, 2020). The professionals with also have complete a course in pharmacology and differential diagnosis. The bill also gave ANPs in the State of Florida prescriptive authority (Florida House of Representatives, 2020). In other words, ANPs in Florida can diagnose patients, order and interpret tests, and develop a treatment plan, including prescribing drugs.
Nurse Practitioner (NONPF) Core Competencies
The NONPF defines core competencies in nine areas. However, I am skillful in two main competencies. The first competency is independent practice. NONPF (2012) notes that the independent practice competencies provide nurses with the ability to practice independently. An independent practitioner is a person who is allowed by law to provide care without supervision. The competencies under this area include patient assessment, treatment, and diagnosis. I know diagnostic and screening protocols, differentiate between normal and abnormal findings during the patient assessment and prescribe drugs as stated by the state laws.
I can also provide counseling, preventive care, and plan patient treatment. I can also effectively and independently diagnose a patient and provide them a quality and safe treatment. The second competency I am skilled in is delivery system competency. Delivery system competency is about developing, planning, and implementing community and public health programs (NONPF, 2012). This competency needs NPs to improve community health. I can improve community health by providing culturally competent care, work with other professionals, and plan community health programs.
I have the opportunity to grow in leadership competencies. NONPF (2012) says that leadership competency focuses on advocacy, scholarship, and accountability. The competency also includes communication skills, engagement in p
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