REQUIREMENTS:
1. To complete this application, you will need to access to the following databases: CINAHL, MEDLINE, Cochrane Library, and the Joanna Briggs Institute. You may access these databases through the Chamberlain College of Nursing Online Library.
2. The APN Professional Development Plan paper is worth 150 points and will be graded on quality of information, use of citations, use of Standard English grammar, sentence structure, and overall organization based on the required components as summarized in the directions and grading criteria/rubric.
3. Create your manuscript using Microsoft Word 2007 (a part of Microsoft Office 2007), which is the required format for all Chamberlain College of Nursing documents. You can tell that the document is saved as a MS Word 2007 document because it will end in “.docx”
4. Follow the directions and grading criteria closely. Any questions about this paper may be posted under the Q & A Forum.
5. The length of the paper is to be no less than 6 and no greater than 8 pages excluding title page and reference pages.
6. APA (2010) format is required with both a title page and reference page. Use the required components of the review as Level 1 headers (upper and lower case, centered):
a. Introduction to the APN professional development plan
b. APN Scope of Practice
c. Personal Assessment
d. Networking and Marketing Strategies
e. Conclusion
PREPARING THE PAPER
The following are best practices for preparing this paper:
1. Review Chapter 29- Role Transition: Strategies for Success in the Marketplace in
DeNisco and Barker (2013).
2. Nurse practitioners need to take into account the state rules and regulations that guide advanced practice. Research and review the Nurse Practice Act and APN scope of practice guidelines in your particular state (FLORIDA). Identify information regarding educational requirements, licensure and regulatory requirements, as well as practice environment details. Review information regarding full, limited, or restricted practice limitations as well as prescriptive authority.
3. Review Guidelines for APN Role Transition Using Benner’s Self-Assessment Tool in Course Resources. Prior to engaging in pursuit for employment, APNs should complete a comprehensive, honest, affirmative personal assessment to identify their strengths and weaknesses as well as their goals and objectives. Research assessment tools, conduct a personal assessment, and reflect upon your strengths, weaknesses, goals, and objectives.
4. To complete the transition from students to expert nurse practitioners working in the healthcare field, graduating APN students will need to secure their first position. Research local and national professional organizations that advertise employment opportunities for APNs. Identify networking and marketing strategies and provide a rationale for your selections.
5. Write your Curriculum Vitae (CV). Refer to the template on pages 618-619 in DeNisco and Barker (2013). Your CV should not exceed 2 pages in length.
6. When concluding the paper, summarize important aspects of the APN professional development plan.
APN Professional Development Plan
Students who have completed their nursing undergraduate studies often undergo a transition process from being nursing practitioner (NP) to advanced practice nurse (APN) especially within the first year or practice. By definition, a nursing practitioner refers to a nurse who is currently undertaking his or her masters’ education in nursing while an advanced practice nurse must have a master’s degree in nursing and successful completed an APRN specialization exam. Evidently, the roles played by RNs and NPs are quite different and this alteration distinguishes the former from the latter. Students often try to achieve the most successful transition though there is a limited amount of research that defines the factors involved in attaining a successful transition. The changes concerning the transition not only involve the knowledge that one has acquired but also the scope of practice that one has. More often, RN tend to assume that with prior experience as a registered nurse will result in smoother clinical rotations and ultimately have an easier transition in becoming APNs. Nonetheless, the scope of practice of NP and APN are entirely different, which places an experienced nursing practitioner in a position to experience challenges while transitioning to this new role. This process also involves identify areas where one can get work upon completion of studies. Therefore, it is beneficial for nursing practitioners to conduct a professional development plan, which aids in the transformation process to become successful advanced practice nurses and to acquire employment in recognized institutions.
APN Scope of Practice
The scopes of practice In Florida, the congress facilitated the enactment of the Florida Nurse Practice Act under chapter 464 within the Florida Statutes in order to ensure that every nursing practitioner within the region acquires the minimum requirements in facilitating safe practice. According to section 464.003, “any person licensed in this state to practice professional nursing and certified in advanced or specialized nursing practice, including certified registered nurse anesthetists, certified nurse midwives, and nurse practitioners” (Florida Board of Nursing, 2016). In relation to advanced registered nursing practitioners, the state of Florida identifies that apart from obtaining the nursing professional certificate, APRNs need to obtain a post basic specialized training, education and experience as well as acquire certification from the Board of Nursing to carry out advanced degrees of nursing acts (Wyckoff, Houghton & LePage, 2013).
The education requirements of advanced practice nurses involved having at least a Master’s Degree within nursing before undertaking the specialized exams that qualifies one to be identified as an APN. Certification and licensure are equally significant aspects in identifying whether an individual can be recognized as an APN. According to the state of Florida, an APN needs to acquire the right documentation prior to beginning their practice in health and other related institutions (Buppert & R2 Library (Online service), 2015). The certification of clinical nurse specialists including advanced practice nurses is acquired via the American Nurses Credential Center (ANCC) while those who have specialized in midwifery acquire their certification from the American Midwifery Certification Board (AMCB) (Buppert & R2 Library (Online service), 2015). On the other hand, APNs who have specialized in anesthetist acquire their certification from the National Board of Certification and Recertification for Nurse Anesthetist (NBCRNA). Currently, the Clinical Nurse Specialists is considered as part of APNs and they obtain their licensure from Florida Nurse Practice. These boards serve the purpose of assessing an APN by identifying if they have the required education qualifications as well as the specific requirements for them to take practice as an APN. Having the required licenses allows the trained APN to carry out the stipulated roles by the state.
Contrary to the RNs, APNs have specific roles that they carry out while providing care to patients. Typically, the duties of APNs vary depending on the specialization of the nurse. Nurse anesthetists focus primarily in surgical environments while nurse midwives work on the healthcare of women. According to the Florida Administrative Code Rule 64B9-4.010(1) , “An Advanced Registered Nurse Practitioner shall only perform medical acts of diagnosis, treatment, and operation pursuant to a protocol between the ARNP and a Florida-licensed medical doctor, osteopathic physician, or dentist” (Florida Board of Nursing, 2016). In relation to prescribing medications, not all APNs have the authority to prescribe drugs depending on the specialization such as a nurse anesthetist cannot prescribe medication in the midwifery section (MidlevelU, 2013). Furthermore, APNs are capable of working in virtually any healthcare environment including private practice clinics, long-term care institutions and hospitals. They are also capable of working in healthcare policy settings or educational settings.
Nevertheless, APNs in Florida experience several barriers or limitations while offering care to patients (Hader, 2011). For instance, they are allowed to prescribe various medications but they are restricted from prescribing controlled substances. Furthermore, APNs are often unable to obtain the medical staff privileges offered in health institutions including hospitals (Wyckoff, Houghton & LePage, 2013). In relation to professional liability, APRNs are subject to malpractice on insurance requirements whereas physicians are allowed to go free without facing the consequences of their actions (Wyckoff, Houghton & LePage, 2013). In addition, there are other factors, which facilitate the limitations that APNs face. These include the fact that most insurance plans such as Medicaid and HMOs do not offer a direct means of paying for the services offered by APNs (Wyckoff, Houghton & LePage, 2013). Moreover, the laws that govern APN practice are out-of-date and they need to be updated and revised in order to reflect the current training, education and experience. The presence of such barriers limits the APNs from practicing their acquired knowledge and skills in health institutions.
Personal Assessment
Prior to beginning the practice as an APN, it is ideal for an individual to reflect on the personal accomplishments, challenges, experiences, talents, expectations and learning needs. Evidently, honest appraisals require self-knowledge. Self-reflection is also important since it can be useful when done in partnership with other professional reflection activities. For instance, professional nurses such as CNSs often advise colleagues, families and patients to save some time for self-evaluation. The process of evaluating the self is accomplished using the Benner’s Novice to Expert model (Hamric, Hanson, Tracy & O’Grady, 2014). This model works based on the principle that a person’s perception regarding certain aspects often change as he or she gains more experience. The personal assessment will mostly focus on the strengths, weaknesses, objectives and goals.
I have several short term goals that I aim at achieving by the end of the next year my first short term goal includes completing my Masters of Science studies in Nursing from the University of Central Florida by August 2016. Once I have completed my Master’s degree program, I aim at locating an advanced nursing position as a trained CNS. Before the completion of the studies, I aim at working part time at a medical clinic in Central Florida. Thereafter, I aim at beginning my Doctorate studies in Nursing at the University of Central Florida in this year’s fall where I expect to graduate in the following year. The achievement of these goals can only be facilitated by hard work on my part and having a clear understanding of what I aim at achieving. In relation to my career, I want to place more focus on CNS. Being a complex yet interesting field, I believe that my work will help me in improving the life of others and that of their families by providing quality care to patients. It also involves considering the flexibility, which is inherent in the role of a CNS and evaluating the most and least appealing aspects.
However, in the course of becoming a proficient CNS, I exhibit certain weaknesses. These include the personal fear of taking risks and fearing to take up new tasks because of the fear of failure. Evidently, failing to challenge the self affects one’s work as a CNS since I will not be able to fully work as expected and offer good quality services as expected. Nonetheless, these weaknesses can be overcome by dealing with them one at time. One can employ other strategies that counter them. For instance, in cases where the routine is not appealing while working on different projects, the most efficient approach is to deal with systems issues and take risks that require quick change sounds such as a CNS role involving focusing on data-driven systems, six-sigma organizations or short term projects. In addition, while dealing with stressful situations, the adoption of three strategic moves helps to lessen the stressful effect. This involves getting a clear understanding of the root of the experienced stress, identifying factors that propel the stress and finally identifying ways of eliminating the stress such as focusing on other issue in other cases. Therefore, it is clear that I am at stage four since I focus on situations as a whole rather than in smaller segments.
Networking and Marketing Strategies
Many nursing organizations both locally and internationally are experiencing a decline in membership. This trend is often related to certain aspects. The professional organizations offer nurses with the opportunities to develop their professional networks and enhance their clinical expertise as well as appraising their knowledge concerning both international and local issues. Some of the organizations include the American Psychiatric Nurses Association (APNA), American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN), Oncology Nursing Society (ONS), Association of perioperative Registered Nurses (AORN) and the Association of Rehabilitation Nurses (ARN) among many others (Online Nurse Practitioner Programs.com, 2016). These organizations help nurses to create connections and networks within the nursing industry. In relation to getting employment opportunities, certain organizations become handy because they offer advertisements relating to such. For instance, the American Association of NPs is a comprehensive organization since apart from offering employment opportunities for nurses it provides them with ways of becoming more involved with their careers (Online Nurse Practitioner Programs.com, 2016). The NP Jobs site also offers employment opportunities though it focuses primarily on experienced oncology nurses (Online Nurse Practitioner Programs.com, 2016). The site mainly offers both local and international information regarding several employment opportunities. The American Nursing Association is also another organization that helps APNs to expand their knowledge regarding diverse fields and offers them job opportunities (Online Nurse Practitioner Programs.com, 2016). Through such organizations, APNs are capable of expanding their knowledge and territory in the nursing field and acquire a deeper perspective concerning their role as APNs while getting channels of accessing employment at the same time.
Curriculum Vitae
Name, credentials
Home Address:
Work Address: (if desired)
Phone:
Email Address:
Education: Bachelor of Science in Nursing
- Degree Graduation date, Chamberlain College of Nursing
Professional Employment: (list most recent nursing position first)
- Dates of employment Employer Position title: brief description of responsibilities and achievements
Licensure and Certifications:
- List licenses License number State(s) where qualified to practice List certifications Certification number Credentialing body Dates certification is valid
Professional Honors and Recognition: (list most recent first)
- Professional and community awards, scholarships, honorary degrees, fellowship and/or prizes Name of the award Presenting organization Date Reason for the award
Research/Grant History:
- Research fellowships Master’s theses Doctoral dissertations Grants (do not list a project if funding was denied)
Lectures, Courses, and Presentations: (may include presentations given to colleagues, healthcare professionals, or the community)
- List of names of course/lecture/presentations Dates given
Professional Service:
- Peer review groups/grant study sections Journal service: (served as a reviewer for a journal)
- Dates of service Journal name
Professional organizations:
- Names of organizations in which current membership is held Dates of membership Offices held Committees served in each organization
Consultative service:
- Names of organizations where salaried consulting work was provided Address of the organization Type of consulting work Dates
Organizational service:
- Dates Committees and task forces Role on the committee (i.e., member or chairperson) If appropriate, note any major accomplishment of the committee
Hospital boards and committees
Public/Community Service:
- Community agency where volunteer work was completed Type of service (e.g., parish nursing, fundraising, educational sessions to non-nursing groups) Population served Date
Conclusion
The transition from a nursing practitioner to an advance nursing practitioner involves a complex yet exciting process that a nurse undergoes upon completion of their master’s program in nursing. In order to have a full understanding of the process, a nurse should be able to comprehend the various aspects involved in this transformation. This includes having a broad understanding of the scope of practice of APNs, which varies considerably from that of NPs. The role of the nurse transforms and comprehending what they should expect helps in preparing nurses to become better practitioners. In addition, it is beneficial for one to conduct a personal assessment in order to identify whether he or she is ready to work as an APN. Finally, identifying the most appropriate areas of finding employment is efficient in helping a student to acquire a job upon completion of studies. The curriculum vitae help in identifying the various stages that an individual has achieved in becoming an efficient APN both nationally and internationally.
References Buppert, C., & R2 Library (Online service). (2015). Nurse practitioner’s business practice and legal guide. Burlington: Jones & Barlett Learning.