Week 1 _ Discussion_ CERTIFICATION AND LICENSURE PLAN

Instructions:

Respond to your colleague in one or more of the ways listed below.

· Share an insight from having viewed your colleagues’ posts.

· Suggest additional actions or perspectives.

· Share insights after comparing state processes, roles, and limitations.

· Suggest a way to advocate for the profession.

· Share resources with those who are in your state. (Florida)

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**minimum of three (3) scholarly references are required for each reply cited within the body of the reply & at the end**

Reply # 1

Amarachi J. Okafor

The state of North Carolina is a fully restricted practice state which means career-long supervision, delegation or team management is needed by a medical provider in order for the NP to provide patient care (American Association of Nurse Practitioner, 2020). This means in order for a nurse practitioner to practice independently they must collaborate with a medical provider in order to have their own practice which can be a barrier for nurse practitioners who want to have their own practice or practice on their own. Each advanced practice nurse practitioner takes the ANCC to get certified after they have received an authorization to test from their university (North Carolina Board of Nursing, 2022). Then the NP must apply online through the North Carolina Board of Nursing website for licensure (North Carolina Board of Nursing, 2022). Following an application for licensure, an initial first-time approval to practice must be completed in the state of North Carolina and be approved by the North Carolina Medical Board and Board of Nursing prior to employment as a Nurse Practitioner (North Carolina Board of Nursing, 2022). This information that I gathered shocked me because I did not know there was another step after you apply for licensure that must be approved before you can practice. The approval number you receive once your application is accepted is important because that is the number that must be included on all prescriptions written by you as a nurse practitioner in the state of North Carolina (North Carolina Board of Nursing, 2022).

North Carolina has a clear and concise scope of practice for its nurse practitioners who are practicing in state. The scope of practice includes: promotion and maintenance of health, prevention of illness and disability, diagnosing, treating, and managing acute and chronic illnesses, guidance and counseling for both individuals and families, prescribing, administering, and dispensing therapeutic measures, tests, procedures and drugs, planning for situations beyond nurse practitioner’s expertise and consulting with and referring to other health care providers as appropriate and evaluating health outcomes (Bupper, 2021). In North Carolina, nurse practitioners have explicit legal authority to prescribe but with collaboration and are also able to prescribe controlled substances schedules II-V (North Carolina Board of Nursing, 2022). To prescribe controlled substances nurse practitioners must obtain a drug enforcement administration number following registration from the DEA’s website (Drug Enforcement Administration Diversion Control Division, 2020). North Carolina has a prescription monitoring program that focuses on controlled substance reporting (North Carolina Board of Nursing, 2022). There is 50-hour mandatory continuing education hours as a nurse practitioner in North Carolina that must be upheld for your role and prescriptive authority (North Carolina Board of Nursing, 2022).

References

American Association of Nurse Practitioners. (2020). State practice environment.  https://www.aanp.org/advocacy/state/state-practice-environment Links to an external site.

Bupper, C. (2021). Nurse practitioner’s business practice and legal guide (7th ed.). Jones & Bartlett Learning.

Drug Enforcement Administration Diversion Control Division. (2020). Registration.  https://www.deadiversion.esdoj.gov/drgureg/index.html Links to an external site.

North Carolina Board of Nursing. (2022). Nurse Practitioner. https://www.ncbon.com