Compare Advanced Nurses
ANSWERS
RNs and APRNs collaborate to achieve the same goal: providing competent and compassionate patient care. Their roles in completing this mission, however, are generally distinct. RNs provide direct patient care as specified in a patient’s medical plan. APRNs collaborate with other advanced practice providers to develop this patient care plan and supervise other medical staff, including RNs and medical assistants. APRNs also have broader patient oversight than RNs because they frequently have an enormous patient load and may have longer-term relationships with patients, depending on the medical setting. In primary care settings, for example, APRNs can frequently serve as the primary care provider for a group of patients and thus may work with a given patient for months, if not years.
APRNs are responsible for all of the above responsibilities, coordinating patient care and using specialized knowledge to manage complex patient conditions. Nurse practitioners (NPs), certified nurse midwives (CNMs), certified registered nurse anesthetists (CRNAs), and clinical nurse specialists are all examples of APRNs. Each type of APRN is described briefly below:
Nurse Practitioners (NPs) are specialized healthcare providers and leaders with the training and expertise to care for patients like physicians, providing direct care and coordination of care. Their responsibilities vary depending on their specialization and the setting in which they work. Still, they typically include evaluating a patient’s health status and medical history to develop a medical care plan, coordinating patient discharges and transfers to other medical units, directing registered nurses and medical assistants in collaborative patient care, performing procedures, and administering medical treatments as needed, and educating patients about preventative health care. Nurse practitioners typically focus on specific populations, such as children, geriatric patients, women, families, or psychiatric patients. Registered nurses who want to become nurse practitioners after earning their MSN or DNP will typically take a certification examination in their desired specialty through either the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) or the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners.
Certified Nurse Midwives (CNMs) are trained to care for women before, during, and after pregnancy, as well as to assist women during labor and delivery and to care for newborn infants. They offer gynecological examinations, prenatal care, and family planning. They also counsel pregnant women on how to care for themselves during their pregnancy and advise women during their reproductive years on how to maintain their reproductive health. Prospective CNMs must pass a certification examination administered by the American Midwifery Certification Board after completing their graduate degree program in nurse-midwifery.
CRNAs (Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists) provide anesthesia to patients undergoing surgery, requiring trauma stabilization and treatment, or requiring palliative care. CRNAs are also in charge of creating an anesthesia plan for each patient they work with and educating patients about the anesthesia procedure before administering it. RNs must pass a national certification examination administered by the National Board of Certification and Recertification for Nurse Anesthetists after completing their graduate education in nurse anesthesia.
Clinical Nurse Specialists (CNSs) are similar to nurse practitioners in that they provide direct patient care while also taking on more administrative and leadership responsibilities to improve care delivery systems in the setting in which they work. Clinical nurse specialists, like nurse practitioners, frequently serve a specific segment of the patient population, such as women, psychiatric patients, or underserved communities. After completing their graduate nursing education, RNs who want to become clinical nurse specialists must take the ANCC certification exam.
Compare Advanced Nurses
QUESTION
Compare Advanced Nurses
Compare two different advanced registered nurse roles with regard to ethical guidelines. Are there any differences in the ethical guidelines that govern these roles? What situations might require one role to respond differently, depending on the ethical guidelines?