Core competencies for APN
Nurse Practitioner (NP) core competencies are the knowledge requirements that a nurse practitioner should be acquainted with by the time they graduate from NP school. These knowledge requirements cut across all practices, including Registered Nurses (RN) and Advanced Practice Nurses (APNs). This essay will highlight the core competencies for APN and explain the transition roles from RN to APN.
APNs should exhibit expert coaching guidance to tailor an evidence-based educational intervention to suit family and individual patient needs. They should also consult with specialties from other disciplines like social work, psychology, and physical therapy to design and enrich comprehensive teaching intervention (Hamric, Hanson, Tracy & O’Grady, 2014). APNs are required to exhibit clinical and professional leadership through interactions with other medical center staff to provide feedback when needed. Consequently, they become role models to RNs and other practitioners aspiring to bridge over to APN roles. Collaboration is the backbone of successful nursing practice, and an APN is required to cooperate with other medical staff members to improve patients’ care. Finally, APNs should exhibit ethical decision-making skills by implementing proper nursing studies, designing informed consent documents, to mention a few (Hamric, Hanson, Tracy & O’Grady, 2014). The mentioned core competencies are defined by the National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties (NONPF), and ensure its implementation in health facilities for accountability.
Transitioning from an RN to an APN is a milestone career growth in nursing practice, but often challenging. A transitioning individual is expected to have an increased knowledge base in anatomical skills from a basic and general level to an in-depth level. They also graduate from indirect patient care to direct patient care because of their presumed knowledge accumulation. The standards of professional practice are also improved among APNs as they transition from RNs. Based on the complexity of the transition process where one must adapt to the new role with more demanding expectations, my experience has been difficult and weary. One has to learn new things overnight, which is stressful for a normal human being. However, some benefits come about after transitioning into new roles, including better pay, a new title, and more exposure. These are the reasons that make it a go-for-it thing despite the challenges.