Nurse practitioner core competencies 2016

NR661 Professional Portfolio Part 2 Examples

The following are excerpts from prior students’ work to provide examples of what we are looking for in this assignment. These examples may not be replicated.

SAMPLE OF ONE EXEMPLAR (STUDENT A)

Exemplar #1

NR-510-0 Leadership and Role of the APN (November 2016)

APN Professional Development Plan

Registered Nurses, who have chosen to pursue a career in Advanced Practice Nursing, face several

obstacles during the transition from clinical to advanced practice nursing. One of those obstacles is the role

confusion. As RN, the nurse is primarily executing physician orders. As an NP, the nurse has to manage to

effectively combine the nursing knowledge with the medical knowledge in order to provide the best care.

Those skills are built during the years spent as a student as new knowledge is gained (DeNisco, 2016).

Another important point in the education of the NP is the detailed knowledge of the NP’s scope of

practice, and especially the scope in the State of the NP’s intended practice. There are differences between the

NP’s scope of practice from state to state. Nurse Practitioners also have to develop a positive relationship with

physicians in order to overcome differences and prejudice that currently exist between both professions. Last

but not least, NP’s have to be able to educate patients and families on the scope of practice and knowledge that

they can provide in order to alleviate doubts regarding Advanced Practice Nursing that currently exist

(DeNisco, 2016).

One of the strategies for the APN students to achieve a smooth role transition is the crafting of an APN

professional development plan. By doing this, the APN students would have a clear idea regarding the NP

scope of practice, the potential issues related to their future practice, their individual competence, and the

strategies needed to secure their first job (DeNisco, 2016).

As an FNP student, residing and planning to work in Ohio, my professional development plan would

outline my career plans as they relate to the rules and regulations in this particular state.

NP Scope of Practice.

In Ohio, the Nurse Practitioners currently are not allowed to practice independently. Each NP has to enter a

Standard Care Arrangement with a physician, who is a part of the practice that the NP is involved with. This

agreement is a subject to review every two years (Lawriter, 2016). The NP is also allowed to prescribe

medications (including schedule II substances) after obtaining a Certificate to Prescribe (Ohio Board of

Nursing, 2016). In the state of Ohio, a direct physician supervision is not required. The NP has to be able to

connect to the collaborating physician if needed by phone, internet, radio, or in person (Lawriter, 2016). There

is a change in the APN certification, which would be implemented in 2017. Instead of issuing a certificate, the

state would issue an APRN license, which would specify the particular certification of the holder (Molnar,

2016). Although, the collaborating with a physician is still required in Ohio, the tendencies are for expanding

the NP scope of practice in the future.

Personal Assessment.

It is very important for an NP graduate student to conduct a personal assessment in order to determine the

level of competence and readiness for starting a new career. One such assessment is the Benner’s novice to

expert self-assessment (DeNisco, 2016). Since this is a new role, all students would start their careers at the

novice level. However, a basic competence and knowledge is necessary in order to advance to the next levels

of advanced beginner, competent, proficient, and finally, the highest level of expert. It is important for the NP

student to carefully examine his or her biggest strengths in order to choose an area of practice that would

provide the smoothest role-transition possible. To help with this decision, there are several different points to

be reviewed, such as desired areas of development, expectations of the new role, potential fears and