Population-based advanced practice nursing: where does oncology fit in?

A national work group met in 2004 to discuss the future of advanced practice nursing. The representatives were nursing education, certification, accreditation, and regulation experts, and the goal was to develop a consensus model for advanced practice nursing regulation (Nevidjon et al., 2010). As a result, a set of recommendations was published in an article that defined a new consensus model for advanced practice registered nurse (APRN) regulation (APRN Consensus Workgroup, 2008; Goudreau, 2009). The new model included six population-based focuses of practice (i.e., family and individual across the lifespan, adult and gerontology, neonatal, pediatrics, women's health- and gender-related, and psychiatric and mental health) (Johnson, Dawson, & Brassard, 2010). A goal of the new model was to standardize the licensure, certification, and regulation of nurse practitioners into specific focuses. State boards were facing an increasing number of requests to recognize nurse practitioner specialties (e.g., organ specific, body systems, diseases) (Johnson et al., 2010). The new model helped standardize education programs, which may help certifying agencies set up curriculum review processes to ensure appropriate credentials for APRNs (Johnson et al., 2010). It also supported the mission of nursing to meet future healthcare needs of the public and to protect the public (Johnson et al., 2010). Some advantages exist to delineating into population-based focuses, but the new model leaves out many specialties (e.g., oncology) that encompass the whole person as well as concentrate on certain diseases.