“Professional Roles and Responsibilities”

Family nurse practitioners (FNPs) are graduate-educated, nationally-certified and state licensed advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs) who care for medically stable patients across the lifespan, from infants to geriatric patients. 

Share your thoughts

1. What are the educational requirements to practice as a FNP?
2. According to the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN), what is the recommended terminal degree to prepare nurse practitioners. 
3. Who determines the scope of practice for FNPs?
4. Who defines it? Who Credentials and what is the role of a Professional and Political Organization in defining the role? 
5. See rubric

Discussion 3

Much of the ongoing debate over scope-of-practice (SoP) laws that govern the practice of nurse practitioners (NPs) across the country focuses on the cost of and access to health care and on whether these laws legitimately promote patient safety or are simply anticompetitive restrictions on NPs’ ability to compete with physicians. After completing the following CE activity at Medscape https://www.medscape.org/viewarticle/506277_1 ( sign for the free account), please answer the following questions:

Should an NP who is educationally prepared as an acute care NP work in an adult primary care setting? 

Is it within the scope for an FNP to diagnose and treat uncomplicated mental health conditions like depression, anxiety, and ADHD?

Are there any restrictions for the FNP to treat patients with mood disorders and to prescribe them antipsychotics or SSRIs ?

Discussion 4:

CS/SB 614 authorizes  an ARNP to prescribe, dispense, administer, or order any drug, which would include controlled substances.

ARNP disciplinary sanctions are added to the bill in s. 456.072, F.S., (Section 5) to mirror a physician’s sanctions for prescribing or dispensing a controlled substance other in the course of professional practice or failing to meet practice standards. Additional acts for which discipline may be taken against an ARNP relating to practicing with controlled substances that are added to the Nurse Practice Act (Section 10) include:

 Presigning blank prescription forms.

 Prescribing a Schedule II for office use.

 Prescribing, dispensing, or administering an amphetamine or sympathomimetic amine drug, except for specified conditions.

 Prescribing, dispensing, or administering certain hormones for muscle-building or athletic performance.

 Promoting or advertising a pharmacy on a prescription form unless the form also states that the prescription may be filled at the pharmacy of your choice.

 Prescribing, dispensing, or administering drugs, including controlled substances, other than in the course of his or her professional practice.

 Prescribing, dispensing, or administering a controlled substance to himself or herself.

 Prescribing, dispensing, or administering laetrile.

 Dispensing a controlled substance listed in Schedule II or Schedule III in violation of the requirements for dispensing practitioners in the Pharmacy Practice Act.

 Promoting or advertising controlled substances.

After reading the following news article http://c-hit.org/2015/04/06/high-prescribing-nurse-surrenders-drug-licenses/

Identify what issues may arise with prescriptive authority of controlled substances and how you may avoid these situations?