APRN Vision Paper

Question: "I've heard some discussion about the National Council of State Boards of Nursing's (NCSBN) Advanced Practice Registered Nurse (APRNP Vision Paper. Can you give me more information about what this Vision Paper discusses and what NAPNAP's views are on it?"

Answer: The National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN) developed a draft Advanced Practice Registered Nurse (APRN) Vision Paper in order to provide direction to boards of nursing and APRN stakeholders in the regulation of advanced practice nursing. The purpose is to produce a vision that will bring uniformity, simplicity and clarity to the regulation of APRNs. The draft Vision Paper Executive Summary states that, "In 10 years, NCSBN's desired APRN regulatory model will consist of three categories of APRNs: nurse anesthetists, nurse midwives and nurse practitioners."

At their February 2006 meeting, the NCSBN Board of Directors approved a dissemination plan to obtain feedback from boards of nursing and other APRN stakeholders on the draft Vision Paper, and as part of the dissemination plan, NAPNAP was asked to provide feedback. In response, the NAPNAP Executive Board coordinated and developed NAPNAP's response to the NCSBN APRN Vision Paper and in March 2006 submitted two letters to NCSBN. Click here to read the letter from NAPNAP and click here to read the joint letter from NAPNAP, the Pediatric Nursing Certification Board (PNCB), and the Association of Faculties of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners (AFPNP).

You can also view regular updates on NCSBN's APRN Vision Paper on the National Council for State Boards of Nursing's website at https://www.ncsbn.org/170.htm.