What is an Advanced Practice Registered Nurse?

A vital part of the health care system, APRNs are educated with a master’s degree or higher and have hundreds of hours of hands-on clinical experience. APRNs can provide care in all types of practice settings including health care facilities, outpatient clinics, specialty practices, employee health programs, and in rural and urban areas with limited access to care. Research has repeatedly demonstrated that APRNs provide safe, high-quality care with equivalent outcomes to their physician counterparts.

How are APRNs being held back?

To date, APRNs have full practice authority in nearly half of the states and jurisdictions in the U.S., meaning that they can provide care to the full extent of their education—from diagnosing and treating patients to delivering babies, expertly managing life-saving respiratory devices and more. In the rest of the country, APRNs are required by law to be in a contract with a physician to perform these very same tasks, which creates unnecessary barriers to care for patients in those states.

Four Roles, Four Ways to Care for You:

• Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists – administer anesthesia and monitor patients post-anesthesia

• Certified Nurse Midwives – specialize in childbirth and women’s reproductive health

• Certified Nurse Practitioners – diagnose and treat primary or acute health conditions

• Clinical Nurse Specialists – work in specialty settings and provide diagnosis, treatment, and ongoing patient management