Analyze three leadership skills required to lead as an NP within complex systems. Describe two strategies you could use to help you develop NP leadership skills. Provide support from at least one scholarly source. Textbooks are not considered scholarly sources.

APN Professional Development Plan

Nurses, in general, require continuous learning to keep their skills and knowledge updated to meet emerging healthcare challenges and meet legislation requirements set to guide nursing practices. The APN career role requires continuous professional development to meet state competencies for providing care services in primary and acute care settings. APNs require a professional development plan to help them advance their competencies in their field of practice or achieve a particular career goal. APN professional development plan is a strategy that guides APNs in identifying and developing skills and knowledge for professional growth. In this paper, I will review the Nurse Practice Act and APN scope of practice in Florida, the educational, license, and regulatory requirements, and the practice and prescriptive authority of APNs in Florida. I will also review the Nurse Practitioner (NONPF) core competencies to identify the essential competencies and leadership skills required for NP and my personal qualities and opportunities for improvement.

APN Scope of Practice

A Registered Nurse can specialize in APN roles after advancing their education to graduate as an Advanced Practice Nurse, either as a system as certified registered nurse anesthetist (CRNA), clinical nurse specialist (CNS), certified nurse practitioner (NP), or certified nurse-midwives (CNM). Each specialization has specific roles and responsibilities and operates in various healthcare settings. Although there exist national standards for APN practice, the various guidelines and requirements for licensure, accreditation, certification, and education (LACE) for advanced nursing roles are defined by each state. The Nursing Consensus on LACE enables the standardization and clarification of the LACE guidelines and requirements across the states to enable APNs to practice across states (American Psychiatric Nurses Association, n.d.). This APN professional development plan will focus on Nurse Practitioners (NPs). I intend to practice as an NP in Florida after my graduation. NPs have nursing practice competencies to work in primary family care and acute care settings. The NP’s role includes providing health education to patients, diagnosing diseases, and working with patients to develop care and treatment plans. As part of the APN framework, the NP role also focuses on providing care and health information that supports the prevention of diseases for better population health outcomes (Collins & Small, 2019).

The Florida Board of Nursing regulates NP roles and practice in Florida. The Florida Board of Nursing ensures that APNs and RNs in practice within the state meet the required qualifications in terms of licenses, disciplines, education, monitors, and rehabilitation (Toney-Butler & Martin, 2022).  The Nurse Act of Florida provides the framework for ensuring that nurses meet the basic requirements to provide safe and professional nursing care. These include the educational and licensing requirements and practice and prescriptive authorities for nurses.

Educational Requirements

The Nurse Practice Act is standardized across all states. It requires all advanced practice nurses within clinical or social settings to possess a master’s degree in nursing or higher or be a graduate from accredited and approved pre-licensure programs in order to be certified for a specialty in advanced nursing practice in Florida (Florida Statutes: Chapter 464, 2021).

License Requirements

Licensing for practice in Florida can be acquired by transferring from current active registration from a home state to request registration as an NP in Florida. Nurse Practice Act, Chapter 464, FS of 2021 Article 4 allows nurses to hold a multistate license that the home state has issued. However, the license is authorized to operate on one party at a time. This means that advanced practice nurses such as NPs are allowed to practice in a different state besides their home state but that the validity of their licensure is limited to the state they are currently practising in. The multistate license requires submitting an application to the licensing board and verification of their validity, competence, behaviours, and any existing adverse action taken against the applying individual using a coordinated licensure information system. NPs must provide details on current registration, prove their educational background, prove current practice, and state any incidents of disciplinary actions during practice.

As prescribed by the Nurse Practice Act, Chapter 464, F.S. (2021), an applicant who wants to apply for certification or is seeking certification to take the licensure examination is expected