Difference between Advanced Nursing Practice

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Difference between Advanced Nursing Practice (ANP) and Advanced Practice Nursing
(APN)
The difference between the advanced nursing practice (ANP) and advanced practice
nursing (APN) lies in the premises of activities and contributions of the graduate level nurses.
Advanced nursing practitioners are educated in advanced practice and they are always
assessed as the competent in practice who utilize their expert knowledge and skills to ensure
a best performance (Bryant‐Lukosius et al., 2016). ANPs have freedom as well as authority
of making autonomous decision in the assessment, diagnosis and treatment of the patients.
The evolution of ANP has been influenced by the change in the healthcare delivery. For the
successful development as well as the implementation of policies, effective ANP support and
regulatory standards are required. According to the researchers, advanced nursing practice
extends beyond their predefined roles and they need to perform lots of additional activities in
order to ensure a safe and improved care (Swan, Ferguson, Chang, Larson & Smaldone,
2015). Even, some other studies stated that the role of ANPs has been articulated as the
constellation of sub-roles of clinicians, researchers, educators and consultants. On the other
hand, advanced practice nursing (APN) is a part of nursing practice and they often provide
healthcare to the under-served population. Advanced practice nurses obtain health histories
and perform comprehensive physical examinations of the patient to determine issues. Also,
they maintain patient records, develop differential diagnoses, provide family counselling,
participate in research studies, and others. Nursing is indeed a practice discipline and trying
to different the two groups of nurses may strengthen the discipline more. APNs basically play
the role of advanced nursing practice. All are heading towards providing better health
outcome moving towards the same directions keeping different perspectives of providing
care. Also, nurses are not practicing their degrees; rather, they identify their profession in
implementing care options for the sake of patients’ health (McDonnell et al., 2015).

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Therefore, they are not different by their degrees but their roles and perspectives of
performing duties in their discipline.
Population served through my Advanced Nursing Practice role
In my Advanced Nursing Practice, I play the role of a Family Nursing practitioner.
Being a Family nursing practitioner (FNP), I care for medically stable patients across age
groups, that includes infant, adolescent, adults as well as older adults. FNPs provide lifelong
and comprehensive care through health education, disease management and other preventive
health services. FNPs need to perform various duties while providing care (Bryant‐Lukosius
et al., 2016). We manage various chronic conditions, oversee the health and wellbeing of
pregnant women, treat minor acute injuries, provide care to infants and children, and also
provide episodic care to the older adults in their chronic illness. We need to work with our
specialists in order to assist them in managing different long term cases of injuries and
illness. In some rural or urban areas of the country, where there is shortage of physicians,
FNP nurses are the sole healthcare providers. FNPs are basically educated at the post
bachelor’s level and thus they are sometimes able to practice autonomously as well as serve
in a primary care role. Therefore, FNPs serve through a variety of populations since the
patients at a family practice might be extremely diverse. FNPs must have the knowledge of
the population of the community to which they serve otherwise they may face several
challenges while providing care. FNPs must acquire a deeper understanding of the
community they serve (Zimmermann & Alfes, 2019). Being a FNP, I also play different role
other than the nurses who work in hospital settings as I need to visit patients with different
needs and cultures from a diverse community. In this regard, being compassionate and
effective in communication is a most important habit for a FNP.
Development of licensure, accreditation, certification, and education plan