Nursing roles have been evolving, especially in the face of medical advances and the shortage of medical personnel. This has created a need for nurses’ roles to be redefined, as their numbers increase and they take on more responsibilities. In fact, a new generation has been created among nurses with state regulations governing their supervision, prescriptive authority, and scope of practice (Schober, 2016). Generally, advanced practice registered nurses (APRN) have a broad scope of practice that includes assessing, diagnosing, and treating medical conditions, as well as prescribing medication and equipment, and ordering and interpreting diagnostic exams like MRIs and bloodwork (Zaccagnini & Pechacek, 2019). There are three main groups of APRNs with distinctive roles as discussed. Firstly, are certified registered nurse practitioners (CRNP). This is a type of APRN with a nurse practitioner (NP) license. Their role is to help improve patient satisfaction, lower health care costs, and address the continuing primary care shortage. They are differentiated from other APRNs as they look at the patient wellbeing and health from a whole-person perspective. Besides that, they are involved in policy advocacy to improve health care and access, particularly for low-income individuals, children, and other marginalized groups (Stewart & DeNisco, 2020). Secondly, are certified nurse midwives (CNM). This is a licensed nurse specializing in women’s reproductive health and childbirth. They give counseling, perform annual exams, give primary care, and perform gynecological exams. Additionally, they provide parental education, prenatal care, and family planning services. Also, they offer training programs, maintain medical records, collaborate with other medical personnel in providing specialized care, educate expectant and new parents on nutrition, measure and monitor fetal development, and give intrapartum, postpartum, and newborn care (DeNisco & Beauvais, 2020). Thirdly, a physician assistant (PA) works interdependently with licensed physicians to diagnose and treat diseases and illnesses and to prescribe medication. They can treat patients independently of a physician. Furthermore, they can write prescriptions, order and interpret laboratory tests, assist in surgery, perform minor bedside procedures, diagnose patients, develop treatment plans, and obtain patient histories (Joel, 2018). In this respect, it is clear that CRNP, CNM, and PA have distinctive roles as APRNs.
References
DeNisco, S. M. & Beauvais, A. M. (2020). Advanced Practice Nursing: Essential Knowledge for the Profession (4th ed.). Jones & Bartlett Learning, LLC.
Joel, L. A. (2018). Advanced Practice Nursing: Essentials for Role Development (4th ed.). F.A. Davis Company.
Schober, M. (2016). Introduction to Advanced Nursing Practice: An International Focus. Springer International Publishing.
Stewart, J. G., & DeNisco, S. M. (Eds.) (2021). Role Development for the Nurse Practitioner (3rd ed.). Jones & Bartlett Leaning, LLC.
Zaccagnini, M., & Pechacek, J. M. (Eds.) (2019). The doctor of nursing practice essentials: a new model for advanced practice nursing (4th ed.). Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning, LLC.
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