Family Nurse Practitioner is a specific role in advanced nursing practice that is characterized by many duties typical for physicians. As a result, the tension imposed on Family Nurse Practitioners regarding credentialing is rather high (Freed, Dunham, Loveland-Cherry, & Martyn, 2010, p. 862). In this context, trends in credentialing of these nurses need to be discussed in detail.
The main three trends associated with the issue of credentialing for Family Nurse Practitioners are distinguishing between roles of physicians and a Family Nurse Practitioner in terms of diagnosing, treatment, and drug prescription; the necessity of the additional licensure for prescribing medications; and the necessity of additional certificates to continue practice in the other state. These aspects are important because they determine the whole practice of a Family Nurse Practitioner in the concrete clinical setting (Keough, Stevenson, Martinovich, Young, & Tanabe, 2011, p. 196). These restrictions influence the work decision of Family Nurse Practitioners in spite of the fact that these approaches can be changed with more effective strategies to control quality.
While discussing possibilities for enhancing the advanced nursing practice in the future, it is important to determine two strategies that can contribute to improving the experience of nurses regarding credentialing. As the issue of distinguishing roles of physicians and Family Nurse Practitioners is associated with licensure for prescribing medications, it is possible to state that the first strategy is the revision of approaches for distributing duties and responsibilities among physicians and Family Nurse Practitioners in the concrete clinical setting to avoid unreasonable decisions and delays in health care delivery (Freed et al., 2010). In order to make the process of cooperation between physicians and Family Nurse Practitioners more productive, clear standards for distributing duties should be stated according to credentials, and the right for prescribing drugs should be provided to Family Nurse Practitioners without the additional licensure because these nurses often work as substitutes for physicians (Keough et al., 2011). This approach will be beneficial for the nursing profession.
The second proposed strategy is important for individual Family Nurse Practitioners. Thus, it is significant to decrease differences in state and national certification for Family Nurse Practitioners. If the procedure of additional certification for working in the concrete state will be eliminated, it is possible to speak about the easy flow of human resources among states (Poronsky, 2013, p. 352). The alternative variant is the simplification of the certification requirements in states.
It is important to note that complications in the credentialing procedures for Family Nurse Practitioners cannot guarantee positive results and high-quality practice. Therefore, to address all legal and ethical norms and standards, it is possible to expect that Family Nurse Practitioners will be required to receive a certain type of certificate that is common for all states in the United States. Moreover, they will be authorized to perform certain roles of physicians in concrete situations because these roles will be stated in credentials. In this case, it will be possible to avoid ethical dilemmas and legal problems. Today, the particular state certification credential is not necessary for some states, and this practice can be followed in other states without compromising the aspect of regulation. Focusing on the ethical aspect, it is important to eliminate barriers that prevent patients from receiving high-quality care in time, as it is possible in cases when Family Nurse Practitioners working in the concrete clinical setting have no additional certificates to provide the certain type of assistance to a patient.
References
Freed, G., Dunham, K., Loveland-Cherry, C., & Martyn, K. (2010). Family nurse practitioners: Roles and scope of practice in the care of pediatric patients. Pediatrics, 126(5), 861-864.
Keough, V., Stevenson, A., Martinovich, Z., Young, R., & Tanabe, P. (2011). Nurse practitioner certification and practice settings: Implications for education and practice. Journal of Nursing Scholarship, 43(2), 195-202.
Poronsky, C. (2013). Exploring the transition from registered nurse to family nurse practitioner. Journal of Professional Nursing, 29(6), 350-358.