CPD providers can positively impact practice by better understanding how APNs are educated, licenced, and certified

DeeAnn Davidson-Corbett; Cherith Godwin; Heidi McNeely; Jeffery Ramirez; Justin Smith

doi:10.1080/28338073.2022.2160531

CPD providers can positively impact practice by better understanding how APNs are educated, licenced, and certified

J CME. 2023 Jan 11;12(1):2160531. doi: 10.1080/28338073.2022.2160531. eCollection 2023.

Authors

DeeAnn Davidson-Corbett¹, Cherith Godwin², Heidi McNeely³, Jeffery Ramirez⁴, Justin Smith⁵

Affiliations

¹ Acute Care Nurse Practitioner, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, New York, USA.
² Acute Care Nurse Practitioner, Duke University Hospital, Durham, North Carolina, USA.
³ Drug Diversion Prevention Officer, Children's Hospital Colorado, Denver, Colorado, USA.
⁴ Professor of Nursing, Gonzaga University, Spokane, Washington, USA.
⁵ Clinical Nurse Specialist, Center for Digital Health, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, USA.

Abstract

Advanced practice nurses (APNs) care for various patient populations in a wide variety of settings. The four types of APNs in the USA (certified nurse practitioner, clinical nurse specialist, certified nurse-midwife, and certified registered nurse anaesthetist) have differences and commonalities related to education, licensure, and certification. Care provided by APNs has been demonstrated to be of high quality, and APNs are active and engaged participants in continuing professional development (CPD) as CPD is required to maintain licensure and board certification. APNs also frequently function as clinical and academic faculty.

Keywords: Advanced practice nurse; certification; continuing professional development; interprofessional education.