Role of the Professional Nurse in Health Care Policy

Role of the Professional Nurse in Healthcare Policy
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Role of the Professional Nurse in Healthcare Policy
Past regulation was plagued with problems ranging from an absence of a common definition of Advanced Practice Registered Nursing (APRN) roles, undefined standards of nursing programs leading to APRN, increases in the number of specialties and sub-specialists and an absence of cross-jurisdictional legal recognition. These problems have in the past conspired to affect the role of nurse-midwives. For instance, the regulation of nurse-midwives vary across states. In some states, they are regulated by the Board of Midwifery, in others by public health boards. With several regulatory bodies, inconclusive statutes in the Nurse Practice meant that the scope of practice of nurse-midwives would vary across states depending on the interpretation of the relevant regulatory bodies (Abood, 2007).
Discussions are underway regarding the issue. The lack of a standard definition of the scope of practice for nurse-midwives meant limited mobility of their services between states due to legal bottlenecks. Matters in discussion regarding APRN include the scope and standards of practice, state laws, and regulations, institutional policy and procedure, self-determination and issues with professional liability and risk management (Milstead, 2013).
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