Describe the Role of the Advanced Practice Nurse

Role of an Advanced Practice Nurse
Your Name
January 28, 2017
Your Institution of Affiliation
Advanced Nursing Practice
The pivotal role of an Advanced Practice Nurse (APN or APRN) in the field of nursing has always been recognized by many healthcare organizations and other institutions, due to their importance in both the clinical and non-clinical settings (Wilcox, Broyhill, Taylor, & Williamson, 2015). In CHS (Carolinas HealthCare System), this role is treated with utmost importance more especially because of the ever-changing landscape of healthcare systems (Wilcox, Broyhill, Taylor, & Williamson, 2015). However, this role has not always been the same for APRNs throughout the years. According to DeNisco & Barker (2016), during its early years, an APRN’s traditional role was only limited to “Clinical roles”, which cannot (and should not) be handled by regular Registered Nurses. However, in response to the ever-changing situations and increasing demands for better quality healthcare, a more expanded definition of an APRN’s role have emerged. This expansion includes an APRN’s involvement in both academic research and administration (of interdisciplinary teams) (Wilcox, Broyhill, Taylor, & Williamson, 2015; Trupp, 2016). However, one of the most common problem that APRNs (and those who wants to pursue it) face is the issue of getting into academic institutions. More particularly, this problem arises due to the requirement of academic and research institutions for their APRNs to have a Ph.D. degree, only ending up caught in the system of tenure-ship and the fact that they get a lower salary as compared to APRNs in the clinical settings. Nonetheless, the need for both clinical and academic APRNs are crucial to healthcare systems today, but are threatened due to certain misconceptions in the role that they play. Thus, the aim of this article is to shed light essential differences between the two fields of Advanced Practice Nursing, in order to understand the greater for ARPNs today.
Clinical vs. Non-clinical masters in Nursing
In most countries, an ARPN is referred to as someone who have gained the proper credentials of being a registered nurse, and a professional who have taken and earned an advanced degree in the same field. Usually, these advanced skill sets include administrative, decision-making skills, and other technical knowledge which distinguishes them from regular RNs. Usually, an APRN’s career proceeds either in a (1) Clinical or (2) Non-clinical trajectory. While the first one refers to the practical application of a Nurses’ specialization in settings like hospitals and health-care organizations, the latter refers to research and/or academic settings which are dedicated towards the addition to the existing pool of knowledge. In most cases, clinically prepared masters in nursing could go for administrative and head positions in the health-care organizations. Some of the examples of the first one include Clinical Nurse Leaders (CNLs) and Clinical Nurse Specialists (CLSs) (DeNisco & Barker, 2016). While a CNL’s function is usually dedicated to the administrating the process of delivering care in a health organization, the CNSs is mostly for co...