Scope Of Practice Essay

The purpose of this essay is to discuss public policy and regulations that impact the nursing profession and scope of practice. State boards of nursing license and regulate Advanced Nurse Practitioners’ (ANP). The scope of practice and autonomy, however, varies from state to state. It is apparent that nurses before they advanced their education to become ANP, they have to have bedside nursing experience working closely with patients. And this experience put ANP in a unique position to deliver quality and safe patient care than the general practice physicians who spend a long time in school, devouring textbooks without spending more time with patients like nurses. Nevertheless, in the majority of states ANP work under the direct supervision of physicians. Thus, I say, this policy need

However, the American Association of Nurse Practitioners ([AANP], n.d) disagree with the above assumption and argue that NP education is comprehensive and competency-based, whereas medicine is time-based. AANP further argue that there is no evidence to suggest general practice physician are superior to ANP in terms of patient outcomes.” Forty years of patient outcomes and clinical research demonstrate that nurse practitioners consistently provide high quality and safe care” (Para. 5). The Institute of Medicine (IOM [2011]) report titled, The Future of Nursing. Leading Change, Advancing Health, stressed the above argument of AANP, when it said “by virtue of their regular, close proximity to patients and their scientific understandings of care, nurses have a considerable opportunity to act as full partners with other health care professionals” (p.23). In spite of the fact that only a few states permitted ANP to practice autonomously, without physician