Professional Nursing Organization and Certification
The American association of nurse practitioners (AANP) is an organization that was established in 1985 by a small group of nurses who saw the vision of the nurse expansion in Pennsylvania (AANP, 2015). The organization was formed to address the various issues that were arising in the practice and therefore was formed as a unified body to voice the concerns of the nurse practitioners. Since then, AANP has been advocating for the members rights and excellence and has a membership of more than 205,000 nurses (AANP, 2015).Professional Nursing Organization and Certification
The mission of the association entails being a professional membership organization for nurse practitioners in every nursing field that is responsible for transforming the patient centered health care (). The vision statement of AANP aspires for the provision of high quality care for all by those who have been mandated to do so (i.e. health care providers). The association also has core values that include integrity whereby, they promise to be reliable, ethical, and respectful and transparency. At the same time, they have other core values that include excellence performance where the client’s needs are put at core and functions to exceed expectations. Professionalism in all their undertaking, leadership in practice and enduring commitment to the members are other values of the association.
For one to be a member of AANP, he/she must be a nurse practitioner. Either as a nurse practitioner where a fee of $ 125 is paid. If an associate, a fee of $125 is required while career starters and post masters student pay $ 95 each. Student and retired nurse practitioners are required to pay $55 for registration.Professional Nursing Organization and Certification
Certification requirements: Criteria for initial certification
The AANP certification program is an independent body and is separately incorporated as a nonprofit making organization which is established to provide valid and reliable program for nurses at the entry level so that they may recognize their education and educational expertise through the validation of their practice qualification as practitioners. The AANP accreditation application concerns individual CE program review and credit but is not limited to the workshops, lectures or other conferences that the practitioners may have attended. This certification is done by the AANPCP (American academy of nurse practitioners) and entails an entry level; examination as well as competency based exams for the nurse practitioners that helps reflect the nurse’s ability and knowledge in various categories including adult nurse practitioners, family nurse practitioners and adult gerontology primary care nurse (AANPCP, 2015). The accreditation examinations are developed in collaboration with the professional exam service which is dedicated to promoting the public welfare through the credentialing. ProExam is well experienced in the development and national licensing and certification in the health related field. The test administration centers are located in all prometric testing centers in the United States as well as in Canada. These exams are computer based and provide the results upon completion of the tests and the certificate and written notice usually is sent through postage upon meeting all the certification conditions. Successful candidates who passes the relevant certification exam becomes qualified and can therefore use the abbreviations NP-C (nurse practitioner certified) that indicates their certification status (AANPCP, 2015).
For certification process to be effected, the applicant must undertake the application process which entails creating an online profile for application though paper application is available at the organizations website to be used by those candidates who may not be able to utilize the web based application of the organization. The certification website contains the candidate’s handbook with informationregarding the application process. It is mandatoryfor anybody wishing to sit for the exam to complete all the didactic and clinical coursework that the nurse practitioner requires in their program. The ProExam -professional examination service later notifies the candidate of their ability to sit for the exam by sending an authorization to test letter after which the candidate/applicant may schedule their exams (AANP, 2013). Upon application, the aplicants are given a 120 days period to apply for the test. Failure to undertake the test at this period requires the applicant to reapply for the test
Recertification requirements
AANP recognizes that the nurse practitioners should maintain professional competency and therefore should renew their practice so that they can assure the public that they have met the current professional standards, knowledge and skills that are responsible to help them maintain their status as nurse practitioners. The adult, family or the gerontology nurse practitioners are required to renew their applications every five years from the date of the initial certification and this is achieved upon meeting the current clinical practice requirements and other continuing education requirements as depicted by the AANPCP.Professional Nursing Organization and Certification
Applicants choosing to recertify their clinical practice must have undergone at least 1000 hours of their clinical practice during the current 5 year period that they have been operating. The documentation must include the names as well as the sites where the nurse practitioner has worked and the date of the undertaking. At the same time, the applicant for recertification must have completed a 75 hours of education relating to their advanced education and the population focus. The graduate course work should be attached for those in the continued education and must be accompanied by a transcript copy. In line with the above, the applications should be submitted at least 8 weeks before the expiration of the current certification so that there could be enough time for the application to be reviewed, processed and another certificate be issued (AANP, 2013). The continuing education should be valid and relevant on the population focus in question. Some courses are not accepted as continuing education courses and include advanced cardiac life support among others like BLS. It is mandatory that the application be done within 30 days since the organizations site does not store databases for more than 30 days.
Practice impact: Active membership, nursing practice, outcomes, quality, safety
Some of the issues related to the accreditation include the state practice and the licensing procedures. This is because the practitioners are only required to use, evaluate, initiate or manage their parent using the exclusive licensing procedures set (Hain & Fleck, 2014). Being a member of AANP comes with great goodies and benefits. Some of the benefits and merits of the association is that it offers it members’ discounts on travels and other leisure goods and services. In this, the association has partnered with reputable organizations and retailers so that the members can buy from them at discounted prices. Such include avis, office depot among others. Another advantage of the association is that it has provided a link whereby patients are able to access a particular practitioner by listing the practice. The organization also provides latest information to its members regarding health. It also helps jobseekers seek employment faster by connecting them with potential employers through their job placement service.
Professional member benefits include education and career essential services, advocacy, and subscriptions among others. In terms of advocacy, the association provides its members with discounted registration fees at the AANP conference which is the largest NP conference, it provides free registration regarding practice information, placement service and job search sites, and health insurance including exclusive member rates on professional liabilities like long term health care plans that is undertaken by mercer health. Other professional benefits that pertains advocacy include continuous advocacy on health policy leadership, consumer advocacy and consultative services for consumers and policymakers in the industry.
To the student member, benefits include exclusive member rates ion professional liability, discounted registration fees at the association’s conferences, career starter discounted one year free membership and access to job center among others. The student also enjoy free access to online subscriptions, canopy medical translator and free subscription to the AANP smart brief.
In terms of quality, the practice helps the members (nurse practitioners) to benchmark their performance against set standards. They are therefore able to analyses their outcome and identify possible strategies that could be employed and implemented for continuous improvement. This helps the patient to receive the best care possible and this is aided by the implementationof the practice improvement questionnaires thereby reducing the risks that may be encountered during practice.Professional Nursing Organization and Certification
Certification impact
Through certification, the members are able to validate their masteryskills, knowledge and ability in the continuing learning and practice requirements through recertification’s (AACN, 2015). The certification and recertification provides the patients and their families with assurance that the person attending to them is capable and has demonstrated skills and experiences by undertaking the certification. To the employers, certification helps them operate in an environment characterized with professionalism. It is also a vehicle through which customers/patients believe that is qualified to attend to them. To the nurses, certification enables them to validate their expert knowledge thereby providing quality services in their undertaking. It also helps them become recognized thereby instilling a sense of confidence and achievement (AACN, 2015). Professional Nursing Organization and Certification