APN Professional Development Plan

APN Professional Development Plan

Nurses, in general, require continuous learning to keep their skills and knowledge updated to meet emerging healthcare challenges and meet legislation requirements set to guide nursing practices. The APN career role requires continuous professional development to meet state competencies for providing care services in primary and acute care settings. APNs require a professional development plan to help them advance their competencies in their field of practice or achieve a particular career goal. APN professional development plan is a strategy that guides APNs in identifying and developing skills and knowledge for professional growth. In this paper, I will review the Nurse Practice Act and APN scope of practice in Florida, the educational, license, and regulatory requirements, and the practice and prescriptive authority of APNs in Florida. I will also review the Nurse Practitioner (NONPF) core competencies to identify the essential competencies and leadership skills required for NP and my personal qualities and opportunities for improvement.

APN Scope of Practice

A Registered Nurse can specialize in APN roles after advancing their education to graduate as an Advanced Practice Nurse, either as a system as certified registered nurse anesthetist (CRNA), clinical nurse specialist (CNS), certified nurse practitioner (NP), or certified nurse-midwives (CNM). Each specialization has specific roles and responsibilities and operates in various healthcare settings. Although there exist national standards for APN practice, the various guidelines and requirements for licensure, accreditation, certification, and education (LACE) for advanced nursing roles are defined by each state. The Nursing Consensus on LACE enables the standardization and clarification of the LACE guidelines and requirements across the states to enable APNs to practice across states (American Psychiatric Nurses Association, n.d.). This APN professional development plan will focus on Nurse Practitioners (NPs). I intend to practice as an NP in Florida after my graduation. NPs have nursing practice competencies to work in primary family care and acute care settings. The NP’s role includes providing health education to patients, diagnosing diseases, and working with patients to develop care and treatment plans. As part of the APN framework, the NP role also focuses on providing care and health information that supports the prevention of diseases for better population health outcomes (Collins & Small, 2019).

The Florida Board of Nursing regulates NP roles and practice in Florida. The Florida Board of Nursing ensures that APNs and RNs in practice within the state meet the required qualifications in terms of licenses, disciplines, education, monitors, and rehabilitation (Toney-Butler & Martin, 2022).  The Nurse Act of Florida provides the framework for ensuring that nurses meet the basic requirements to provide safe and professional nursing care. These include the educational and licensing requirements and practice and prescriptive authorities for nurses.

Educational Requirements

The Nurse Practice Act is standardized across all states. It requires all advanced practice nurses within clinical or social settings to possess a master’s degree in nursing or higher or be a graduate from accredited and approved pre-licensure programs in order to be certified for a specialty in advanced nursing practice in Florida (Florida Statutes: Chapter 464, 2021).

License Requirements

Licensing for practice in Florida can be acquired by transferring from current active registration from a home state to request registration as an NP in Florida. Nurse Practice Act, Chapter 464, FS of 2021 Article 4 allows nurses to hold a multistate license that the home state has issued. However, the license is authorized to operate on one party at a time. This means that advanced practice nurses such as NPs are allowed to practice in a different state besides their home state but that the validity of their licensure is limited to the state they are currently practising in. The multistate license requires submitting an application to the licensing board and verification of their validity, competence, behaviours, and any existing adverse action taken against the applying individual using a coordinated licensure information system. NPs must provide details on current registration, prove their educational background, prove current practice, and state any incidents of disciplinary actions during practice.

As prescribed by the Nurse Practice Act, Chapter 464, F.S. (2021), an applicant who wants to apply for certification or is seeking certification to take the licensure examination is expected to submit a completed Nursing Licensure by Examination Application that demonstrates that the applicant meets the educational and career qualification set forth by the Nurse Practice Act. In addition, the applicant for APN licensing must submit a certified check of criminal history records, including fingerprint checks and practice licensure status. New license applicants must pay $323 to the Florida Department of Health.

Regulatory Requirements

Florida strictly enacts the regulations set forth by the Florida State Nursing Practice Act. An NP is required, at all times, to practice professionally in accordance with the professional, legal, and ethical standards provided by the Act. Firstly, as a regulation, all NPs and other APNs must have a basic knowledge of the Act and set legislations. The NP must also prove to meet the basic financial responsibilities related to professional liability in the care provided. They must be able to pay $100,000 per claim and have access to credit from a registered insurer of not less than $300,000.

Practice Authority

The Florida Nursing Board requires that NPs, unless approved by the advanced practice autonomous committee, work under the supervision of a physician under a collaborative agreement. In some conditions, such as the examination, NPs work autonomously as permissible by the Board of Nursing. However, the Nurse Practice Act, Chapter 464, Florida Statutes of 2021, notes that APNs, including NPs, can engage in autonomous practice only in primary care practice. The autonomous practice authority is permissible for family medicine, general pediatrics, and general internal medicine. APNs, including NPs, can register for autonomous practice if they meet the Florida Board of Nursing regulation requirements, including proof of financial responsibility.

The license holder must also prove that they have not been under investigation or received disciplinary action within the US territories and states and worked successfully for at least 3,000 hours within a 5-year active practice period under the supervision of an allopathic or osteopathic physician who held an active, unencumbered license issued by any US state or territory (Nurse Practice Act, Chapter 464, FS, 2021). Florida’s strict control over APNs, especially NPs, as per the provisions and regulations of the Nurse Practice Act of Florida, shows how NP practice authority is restricted. The restrictive regulations, especially in the practice of NPs, are not beneficial to the state of Florida and require reforms to improve APN practice (Unruh et al., 2021).

Prescriptive Authority

Florida was the last state in the US to approve autonomous prescriptive authority NPs in the prescription of controlled substances. Although the Nurse Practice Act provides prescriptive authority, Chapter 464, Florida Statutes of 2021, NPs still face various restrictions on the prescription of various classes of scheduled drugs. They must also meet some restrictive requirements before they are registered as NPs with autonomous capacity for full prescriptive authority.

For an individual to be registered as an APN with the autonomy of practice, including the authority to prescribe medications and fully diagnose patients without physician supervision, the Florida Board of Nursing must ascertain that the individual has a holder of an active, unencumbered license currently to practice as an advanced based on the provisions of the Nursing Practice Act of Florida. The APN must also bear proof of training and education and successful completion of three graduate-level semester hours in the last five years. Proven and certified knowledge in differential diagnosis and three graduate-level semester hours in pharmacology are also considered to be licensed for autonomous prescriptive authority for APNs in Florida (Nurse Practice Act, Chapter 464, 464.0123, FS, 2021).

Nurse Practitioner (NONPF) Core Competencies

A nurse’s practice competencies are directly related to patient health outcomes and patient safety (Son et al., 2019). The NONPF Core Competencies provide core competencies related to the scientific foundation, leadership, quality, practice inquiry, policy, IT literacy, health delivery systems, ethics, and independent practice. Nurse practitioners must prove competency in their specialty to qualify for licensing and meet required practice regulations. A self-assessment of core competencies for NPs allows them to identify the competencies they are strong at and the competency areas they see an opportunity to grow.

I carried out a personal competency assessment against the Nurse Practitioner (NONPF) Core Competencies to determine my strengths, weaknesses, goals, and objectives. I identified two competency areas I believed were my strengths and two competency areas as they provided opportunities for further improvement and growth. I also identified scholarly activities to help me achieve the desired NP competency goals.

Competency Areas that are Personally Strong

The greatest strength and competency that I feel I possess is the ability to critically analyze data and evidence to improve advanced nursing practice. Based on this strength, I can utilize raw data from different sources and analyze it into actions. I rely on data in many ways. I have an extensive understanding of different types of data and data analysis methods. I also use data to develop predictive methods and fact-based management of patient conditions. I also love utilizing multiple source data to help define my course of action during the decision-making process. The utilization of evidence in nursing practice improves professionalism and patient outcomes (Coster et al., 2018). Another strength is the ability to function as a licensed independent practitioner. I can work independently, even without supervision, and still be able to meet patient care. I have no record of any errors in practice, and I have made hard decisions concerning patient care.

Competency Areas Where There Is Room for Growth

One of my greatest weaknesses is communicating effectively. I tend to work independently; therefore, I am mostly unable to carry on a conversation with my fellow nurses. I only tend to be comfortable working alone or communicating with a patient. Effective communication is an essential part of developing collaborative capacities in practice. I feel that I need to develop this competency to work effectively in interprofessional teams. Another weakness is the inability to coordinate transitional care services in and across care settings. I believe this weakness is related to my inability to communicate effectively. This is another competency that I see I have an opportunity to develop and grow my professional competency as a Nurse Practitioner.

Scholarly Activities to Help Achieve NP. Competencies

My focus on competency development is developing my communication skills to improve the two identified weaknesses. I will need to improve my communication skills as effective communication improves the efficiency of multidisciplinary collaborations and patient care experiences (Ellahham, 2021). I will improve my communication skills by participating in group research and attending short courses and simulations on communication skills. Research has proved that simulation-based learning effectively improves communication skills (Blackmore et al., 2018).

Leadership Skills

A nursing department includes individual nurses who interact and exchange information directly and indirectly. This presents an example of a complex system. A nurse leader in the nursing department will require specific skills and strategies to effectively lead within such a complex system. As an NP leader, I feel that it is necessary to assess the key skills I possess for effective leadership. The assessment also helps me utilize evidence-based strategies to develop effective leadership skills essential for leadership in complex systems.

Leadership Skills Required to Lead in Complex Systems

The necessary skills for effective leadership in complex systems are collaboration skills, communication skills, and self-awareness. These skills are interlinked to enable me as a leader to inspire confidence and trust in others to work together. A complex system exists in a chaotic nature. The possession of combined collaboration and communication skills will help me tap into the individuals as elements within the complex systems at a personal level. Being an effective communicator ensures that, as a leader, the followers know what their leader projects and the directions they give. This can help harmonize and align the functions of each individual with others within the system to achieve collaboration.

Self-awareness is a component of emotional intelligence. Emotional intelligence influences a leader’s decisions and their effectiveness within organizational settings (Moon, 2021). Self-awareness skills will enable me to tune into my feelings and emotions and define how others see and feel me. Being a self-aware leader makes it easy to understand others and understand their challenges, strengths, and weaknesses. Therefore, as an NP leader in a complex system, I believe that collaboration, communication skills, and self-awareness will help me be an effective leader.

Strategies to Help Develop NP. Leadership Skills

Two of the best strategies to help develop NP leadership skills are learning about leadership and identifying my strengths and weaknesses as a leader in a complex system. Continuous learning helps identify new ways to approach leadership and solve leadership challenges. I will take on the responsibility in a way that decentralizes the leadership position to help me learn from others. The other strategy is to identify my strongest areas as a leader and the areas I feel challenged. By identifying my weak areas as a leader, I can identify new growth opportunities and improve my leadership skills.

Conclusion

ANPs have the basic competencies to practice and prescribe medications autonomously. However, the current legislation and healthcare challenges require NPs to develop their skills beyond academic qualification to encompass core practice competencies. The NP, therefore, must continuously seek to gain new and extra knowledge, skills, and behaviours that improve care practices and ensure better health outcomes. The scope of NP practice varies across states based on the state’s modifications of the Nurse Practice Act. However, the Nursing Consensus LACE standardization and clarification on NP. Education, licensing, and regulatory requirements allow multistate licensing and accessibility of qualified APNs across states. The LACE and the Nurse Practice Act have put in place competencies for APNs to ensure the provision of professional and safe care to the population. Florida is one of the states with the most restricted practice authorities for NPs. It is important for NPs to self-assess their competencies based on the provisions of the Nurse Practitioner (NONPF) Core Competencies to ensure that they meet the basic requirements for licensure and identify opportunities to improve professionally. Professional development will improve the opportunities to get licensed for autonomous practice and prescriptive authority.

References

American Psychiatric Nurses Association. LACE | APNA. APNA. Retrieved 12 May 2022, from https://www.apna.org/about-psychiatric-nursing/about-pmh-aprns/lace-information/.

Blackmore, A., Kasfiki, E. V., & Purva, M. (2018). Simulation-based education to improve communication skills: a systematic review and identification of current best practice. BMJ Simulation and Technology Enhanced Learning, 4(4), 159-64.

Collins, C., & Small, S. (2019). The nurse practitioner role is ideally suited for palliative care practice: A qualitative descriptive study. Canadian Oncology Nursing Journal, 29(1), 4-9. https://doi.org/10.5737/2368807629149

Coster, S., Watkins, M., & Norman, I. J. (2018). What is the impact of professional nursing on patients’ outcomes globally? An overview of research evidence. International journal of nursing studies, 78, 76-83.

Ellahham, S. (2021). Communication in Health Care: Impact of Language and Accent on Health Care Safety, Quality, and Patient Experience. American Journal of Medical Quality, 36(5), 355-364.

Florida Statutes: Chapter 464. (2021). The 2021 Florida Statutes. Leg.state.fl.us. Retrieved 12 May 2022, from http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0400-0499/0464/0464.html.

Moon, J. (2021). Effect of Emotional Intelligence and Leadership Styles on Risk Intelligent Decision Making and Risk Management. Journal of Engineering, Project & Production Management, 11(1).

Son, Y., Lee, E., & Ko, Y. (2019). Association of Working Hours and Patient Safety Competencies with Adverse Nurse Outcomes: A Cross-Sectional Study. International Journal Of Environmental Research And Public Health, 16(21), 4083. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16214083

Toney-Butler, T., & Martin, R. (2022). Florida Nurse Practice Act Laws and Rules. Ncbi.nlm.nih.gov. Retrieved 12 May 2022, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK532859/.

Unruh, L., Rutherford, A., Schirle, L., & Brunell, M. L. (2018). Benefits of less restrictive regulation of advanced practice registered nurses in Florida. Nursing Outlook, 66(6), 539-550.

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Requirements
A Week 4 Paper Template (Links to an external site.) to be used for your assignment is required for this assignment.

The APN Professional Development Plan paper is worth 200 points and will be graded on the quality of the content, use of citations, use of Standard English grammar, sentence structure, and overall organization based on the required components as summarized in the directions and grading criteria/rubric.
Submit the paper as a Microsoft Word Document, which is the required format. You are encouraged to use the APA Academic Writer and Grammarly tools when creating your assignment.
Follow the directions below and the grading criteria located in the rubric closely. Any questions about this paper may be posted under the Q & A Forum or emailed to your faculty.
The length of the paper should be 5-8 pages, excluding title page and reference page(s).
Support ideas with a minimum of 3 scholarly resources. Scholarly resources do not include your textbook. You may need to use more than 3 scholarly resources to fully support your ideas.
You may use first person voice when discussing information specific to your personal practice or skills.
Current edition APA format is required with both a title page and reference page(s). Use the following as Level 1 headings to denote the sections of your paper (Level 1 headings use upper- and lower-case letters and are bold and centered):
APN Professional Development Plan (This is the paper introduction. In APA format, a restatement of the paper title, centered and bold serves as the heading of the introduction section)
APN Scope of Practice
Nurse Practitioner (NONPF) Core Competencies
Leadership Skills
Conclusion
Directions
Introduction: Provide an overview of what will be covered in the paper. Introduction should include general statements on scope of practice, competencies, and leadership, and identification of the purpose of the paper.
APN Scope of Practice: Research the Nurse Practice Act and APN scope of practice guidelines for the state in which you intend to practice after graduation. (Example: Students who intend to practice in California must research the California Nurse Practice Act and relevant Board of Registered Nursing regulations, such as obtaining a DEA number, and prescriptive requirements). Describe the educational, licensure, and regulatory requirements for that state in your own words. Identify whether your state allows full, limited, or restricted NP practice. Discuss NP prescriptive authority in your state. Provide support from at least one scholarly source. Source may be the regulatory body that governs nursing practice in your state. (Students who intend to practice in California, include the use of written standard procedures that guide nurse practitioner practice in the state and physician supervision ratios).
Nurse Practitioner (NONPF) Core Competencies: Review the NONPF Core Competencies. Describe two competency areas you believe to be personal strengths and two competency areas in which you have opportunities for growth. Discuss two scholarly activities you could do during the master’s program to help yourself achieve NP competencies. Provide support from at least one scholarly source. Source may be NONPF Core Competencies document provided via the link in the week 2 readings.
Leadership Skills: Analyze three leadership skills required to lead as an NP within complex systems. Describe two strategies you could use to help you develop NP leadership skills. Provide support from at least one scholarly source. Textbooks are not considered scholarly sources.
Conclusion: Provide a conclusion, including a brief summary of what you discussed in the paper.