NR 510 Week 6 Leadership and Role of the APN PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN

NR 510 Week 6 Leadership and Role of the APN PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN NR 510 Week 6 Leadership and Role of the APN PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN APRN Professional Development Plan Susan Brown Chamberlain University NR-510: Leadership and Role of the APN December 2018APN Professional Development Plan The purpose of this paper is to comprise a professional development plan to aide in the transition from a professional registered nurse (RN) and student nurse practitioner into a practicing advanced practice nurse (APN) as well as to explore the future role as an APN. A professional development plan is a tool to aid in the continuous process of obtaining new knowledge, self-reflection, and skills that have a relation to the profession and the responsibilities of the new APN (Duke University, 2018). This professional development plan paper will include state rules and regulations that guide advance practice for a nurse practitioner in the state of South Carolina; including education requirements, licensure and regulatory requirements, as well as practice environment details; as well as to provide information on practice limitations and prescriptive authority. It will also include a self-evaluation using Benner’s Self-Assessment tool. It is essential for the novice NP to evaluate strengths and weaknesses; as well as to identify the objectives and goals of their future practice. This plan will also include the identification of local, state, and national professional organizations that advertise employment opportunities for an APN; as well as identify networking and marketing strategies that can be implemented to secure relationships and secure employment; as well as to provide a rationale for those strategies. The plan will also include an attached Curriculum Vitae (CV) which details one’s employment history, education, and achievements and highlights one’s abilities as well as accomplishment and can assist in career promotion (Hicks & Roberts, 2016). Furthermore, this plan will conclude with a detailed summarization of important aspects of the APN professional development plan and its significance to NP. APN Scope of Practice in South Carolina It is challenging to transition from the role of an RN to an NP; it is vital that the student NP research and review information regarding their Nurse Practice Act for their state and rules and regulations that govern their future as an advanced provider of care. In the state of South Carolina to practice as an APN one must first have a current SC RN license, have successfullycompleted a Master’s level degree from an accredited school of nursing. Furthermore, they must obtain national certification through a Board-approved third-party certifying agency for NPs that is the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) or the American Association of Nurse Practitioners (AANP) (Nursing Licensure, 2018). In South Carolina to obtain licensure one must first meet all the educational requirements as required by the state. According to the South Carolina Department of Labor, Licensing, & Regulation (LLR) (2018), one must complete and submit an application to the LLR Board in black ink, and pay a nonrefundable application fee of $30 to update from a current SC RN license to an APRN; including a 2x2 full-faced passport sized photo signed and dated attached to the application. The applicant must also have a copy of their official transcripts sent to the Board of Nursing from their Master’s level educational program, as well as to provide a copy of specialty certification by a board-approved credentialing agency, and complete and pass a criminal background check along with a fingerprint card. There are an additional application and fee for prescriptive authority in South Carolina; a separate application and a fee of $20. The applicant must also supply documentation to verify 45 continuing educations hours in pharmacotherapeutics. In addition, if an APRN is applying for authority to prescribe Schedule III-IV substance one must submit a DHEC form 1174A, a copy of their SC APRN license, a copy of their prescriptive authority license, as well as completing an additional 15 continuing education hours on controlled substances (S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control, 2018). In South Carolina NPs are defined as an APN that has met the educational requirement and is licensed to practice, and can demonstrate advanced knowledge skills and assessment to manage physical and psychosocial health and illness (South Carolina Legislature, 2018). NPs may interpret diagnostic and laboratory finds as well as to diagnose, treat, prescribe, and formulate treatment plans for a multitude of patient populations. NPs in SC can work in a variety of settings or environments such as physicians’ practices, health clinics, rural clinics, urgent cares, minute clinics and hospitals (Sangster-Gormley, Martin-Misner, & Burge, 2013). SC, however, is a restricted practice state for APNs. According to the SouthCarolina Legislature (2018), an NPs must have a practice agreement with a supportive physician or health system. The practice agreement must establish the medical aspects of care to be provided by the NP including the prescribing of medications. The practice agreement must contain mechanisms that allow the physician to ensure that quality of clinical care and patient safety is maintained by state and federal laws, as well as all applicable Board of Nursing and Board of Medical Examiners rules and regulations.