Advanced Practice NursingAdvanced practice nursing can refer to either an Advanced Practice Nurse (APN) or an Advanced Practice Registered Nurse (APRN) and are similar terms for the same thing. Advanced practice nursing requires a higher level of education, currently, a Masters in Nursing at the minimum (which has been proposed to be expanded to the Doctor of Nursing Practice by 2015). Through this extended education, one can expect to gain a larger skill set, increased assessment abilities, the ability to plan for and implement care, and the ability to offer diagnoses. Current nurses can advance their nursing careers by becoming advanced practice nurses.

Advanced practice nurses will exercise a greater level of autonomy in the areas mentioned above due to their higher level of education and expertise. This higher level autonomy will include activities such as:

  • * Decision making
  • * Manage individual and group care
  • * Collaboration with clients and/or patients to maximize positive outcomes
  • * Manage physical and labor resources
  • * Act ethically and within the boundaries of the law
  • * Prescriptive and referral authority
  • * The ability to admit patients to health care facilities

In addition to these high level generalized skill sets, advanced practice nurses have four options for specialization which include:

Each of these specialties carries further levels of specialization along with them. Nurse Practitioners have a particularly wide breadth of nursing specialty certifications, sub-specializations for advanced practice nurses to choose from.

Advanced practice nursing is regulated on a state-by-state basis, and Nursing License Map has created a helpful tool for you to navigate the sometimes complicated waters of advanced practice nursing licensure no matter where you live. For additional helpful information, take a look at the Concensus Model APRN Regulation.

Take a look at your state’s specific nursing license requirements: