Running head: APN PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN

APN Professional Development Plan

Name

Institution

Nursing
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Introduction

Scope of practice refers to services that a qualified nurse is considered to be competent to

perform, and is allowed to undertake with regard to their professional license. Core competency

in nursing is referred to as the potentiality to practice nursing in a way that satisfies the needs of

patients that are under care by applying logical thinking and nursing skills. Leadership in nursing

involves influencing others to improve the quality of care while directly participating in clinical

care. The purpose of this paper is to address the Scope of Practice, core competencies of Nurse

Practitioners according to NONPF, and leadership skills for leading as a Nursing practitioner

within a complex system. The state that I intend to practice after graduation in Florida.

APN Scope of Practice

Advanced Nursing Practitioners in Florida are allowed to fully practice their licensure.

This is after the bill to allow APNs to fully practice being passed. It was to take effect starting

July 2020 where Advanced NPs who have a minimum working experience of 3,000 hours under

the supervision of a physician, will be authorized to practice primary care in Florida in the

absence of a doctor. It is mandatory that for them to qualify, they must have completed minimum

graduate-level course work in dissimilar diagnosis and pharmacology. In the new law, NPs who

will have qualified will be able to independently practice general pediatrics, family medicine,

and general internal medicine. The state policy authorizes NPs to provide primary care. They are

licensed and able to offer healthcare services in the stated fields. Nurse Practitioners in Florida

have the prescription authority covering drugs and schedules II-V controlled substances. The

nurse practitioner has the freedom to act independently (Florida Scope of Practice Policy - State

Profile, 2020)
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Regulations that govern NPs in the State of Florida are among the toughest in the United

States (Schirle & Dietrich, 2020, p. 922). The first regulation is the supervision laws which

require NPs in the state to be under the supervision of a physician and the agreement outlined in

writing. The physician who is the supervisor must not be available in person but they must avail

themselves by phone. The minimum educational requirement is a Master’s of Science in nursing

emphasizing the role of an NP and patient population focus of choice. After which one will need

to earn a National Certification to become a Certified Nurse Practitioner having knowledge and

training that focuses on the patient population selected which should be in line with the graduate

education. In order to qualify to be certified by the state as an APRN, a nurse practitioner must

have at least an MSN through an NP graduate program that is accredited, national certification as

an NP focusing on a recognized program, and a current RN license.

Nurse Practitioner (NONPF) Core Competencies

The National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties is an organization determined

to promote high-quality Nurse Practitioner education. The organization determines what a nurse

practitioner should know by the time of graduation from a Nurse Practitioner school.

The first is scientific foundation competencies require that nurse practitioners are

equipped with an exclusive understanding of the fundamentals of medical sciences. Nurse

practitioner students are needed to take fundamentals in pharmacology and pathophysiology and

in other specialties they are capable of taking additional courses. Leadership competencies

emphasize accountability in the profession, advocacy, and scholarship. These skills make it

possible for nurse practitioner students to comprehend the scope and standards of practice and

prepare them to lead their teams. Quality competencies emphasize accessing and using

information databases and application of critical analysis of research findings. Examples of core
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competency is application of the most appropriate recent research findings in clinical practice.

Practice inquiry competencies emphasize translational research where academic research is

applied in clinical practice. This ensures that nurse practitioner students can apply research to

improve the outcomes of patients. Quality and information literacy competency ensures that the

NP students can utilize accessible technology to enhance safety of the patient and the health

outcome. Training facilities for NPs, therefore, require students to pursue a course on

informatics. It also includes the use of technology to manage information.

Policy competencies enable nurse practitioner students to be able to take part in

legislation to improve healthcare and minimize issues that the society faces such as poverty. The

students, therefore, take courses on health policy or healthcare economics to gain the

competency. Healthcare delivery competencies involve the planning, developing, and

implementing healthcare programs for the benefit of the public or the community. Students are

also educated on healthcare reformation and making decisions in an organization. Ethics

competencies incorporate being able to understand ethical implications of advances in science

and learning to reach an agreement on ethical dilemmas that apply particularly to the student

patient population. Independent practice competencies are for empowering nurse practitioners to

function as licensed independent practitioners. According to (Lauerer et al., 2017, p. 124), a

licensed independent practitioner is recognized to have a scientific knowledge base and is

authorized to provide care without being supervised. The competency includes the ability of an

NP to assess, diagnose and treat a patient within the population focus of a student.

Scientific foundation and quality are my strengths out of the competencies described.

Scientific foundation competency is a strength because I have an in-depth background in medical

sciences. Quality competency is my strength because I am acquainted with the knowledge and
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skills to access and use information databases and perform a critical evaluation on the research

findings. Two core competencies that are growth opportunities include leadership and policy

competencies. Policy competency is a wide area of study that requires an understanding of how

policies are made from the organizational level to global levels many of which differ. Leadership

presents an opportunity to influence many people with different backgrounds therefore requires

practice to get to understand the different characters and how to handle the individuals.

The scholarly activities that I could take part in while pursuing a master’s program to

include participating in leadership roles in professional societies and other activities related to

professional leadership to improve my leadership skills. In order to achieve the competency of

policy, I could participate in research, which will boost my understanding of the policies (Wood

et al., 2018, p. 12).

Leadership Skills

Leadership in nursing involves interacting with people thus the first leadership skill is

communication skills. Healthcare involves multidisciplinary collaboration to ensure high-quality

care is provided to patients. In order to enhance collaboration, Nurse practitioner needs to

establish communication between the nurses and members of other departments. They also need

to establish communication with the team they are working with. Communication enables the

team members to feel appreciated and feel like they belong to a team thus enhancing teamwork.

The second leadership skill that a nursing practitioner will need is decision-making skills.

Decisions in healthcare are made based on research and evidence-based practice to achieve

desirable results. Healthcare is a complex system therefore a nurse practitioner should be able to

think critically as well before making a decision.

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The third skill that an NP would require is having a global perspective. A leader is

expected to understand and embrace cultural diversity that will be applied in the work

environment and when dealing with the community. A global perspective allows an NP to be

open to new ideas hence the ability to respond effectively to new challenges that arise in

healthcare.

According to (Miller, 2017, pp. 31) leaders are made rather than born. This means that

leadership skills can be cultivated through effective strategies. The first strategy that can be used

by an NP to develop leadership skills is through pursuing long-life learning. This strategy will

ensure that the NP is equipped with the necessary knowledge and skills to become a better nurse.

There are leadership classes where an NP is taught leadership skills.

The second strategy is through getting involved. A good leader participates in the

activities the members are doing. This way, an NP will be able to understand the needs of the

people and the issues that they are facing. Active participation allows an NP to be close to the

medical team that they are leading (Strom, 2017, pp. 203). They will be able to open up more

freely hence not only will communication be enhanced but also the ability to model the desired

characteristics.

Conclusion

Scope of practice refers to the services that a health professional has been authorized to

perform in relation to their professional license. The scope of practice is different in every state.

APNs in Florida are authorized to fully practice their licensure and from July 2020, APNs who

had amassed a minimum of 3,000 hours of practice under a physician were authorized to practice

independently without supervision with the ability to practice general pediatrics, family

medicine, and general internal medicine. The core competencies of nurse practitioners are
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grouped into nine broad categories. Competencies that are my strongholds are scientific

foundation and quality. Competencies that are growth opportunities are leadership and policy.

Scholarly activities that I could engage in include participating in leadership roles in professional

societies and participating in research. The leadership skills that are required by an NP to lead

complex systems include communication skills, decision making, and having a global

perspective. The strategies that would enhance NP leadership skills include pursuing long-life

learning and participating in the activities that the members are doing.
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References

Florida Scope of Practice Policy - State Profile. (2020). Scope of Practice Policy.

http://scopeofpracticepolicy.org/states/fl/

Lauerer, J., Edlund, B. J., Williams, A., Donato, A., & Smith, G. (2017). Scaffolding behavioral

health concepts from more simple to complex builds NP students’ competence. Nurse

Education Today, 51, 124–126. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nedt.2016.08.016

Miller, M. (2017). Leaders Made Here: Building a Leadership Culture (The High Performance

Series) (1st ed.). Berrett-Koehler Publishers.

Schirle, L., & Dietrich, M. S. (2020). Advanced practice registered nurses' work environment

perceptions in hospitals: A cross‐sectional survey. Journal of Nursing Management,

28(4), 919–926. https://doi.org/10.1111/jonm.13020

Strom, M. (2017). Lead with Wisdom: How Wisdom Transforms Good Leaders into Great

Leaders (1st ed.). Wiley.

Wood, W., McCollum, J., Kukreja, P., Vetter, I. L., Morgan, C. J., Hossein Zadeh Maleki, A., &

Riesenberg, L. A. (2018). Graduate medical education scholarly activities initiatives: a

systematic review and meta-analysis. BMC Medical Education, 18(1), 10–16.

https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-018-1407-8