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Appendix 2

DEFINITIONS - ADVANCED AND SPECIALTY PRACTICE

Advanced Practice Definition1

Advanced practice nursing (the advanced practice of nursing) is a global term used to describe the entire spectrum of advanced practice in which nurses apply maximum nursing knowledge and skill to meet the needs of clients. Their knowledge and skills represent an integration of information from the multiple domains of clinical practice, research, education, collaboration, change agency and leadership.

Advanced practice may be focused solely within the scope of nursing practice, or it may extend to incorporate, with appropriate authorization, activities that fall within the traditional scope of medical practice, including functions such as diagnosing and prescribing as well as specific procedures or technical skills. APN includes roles such as the Clinical Nurse Specialist, Primary Health Care Nurse Practitioner, Acute Care/Specialty Nurse Practitioner, and will include other extended roles e.g. Nurse Anaesthetists, as they emerge.

Key Characteristics to Describe Advanced Practice

  • expert and specialized practice grounded in knowledge that comes from nursing theory and other theoretical foundations, experience and research.
  • deliberate, purposeful and integrated use of in-depth nursing knowledge, research, and clinical expertise, plus integration into nursing of knowledge from other disciplines.
  • depth and breadth of knowledge enabling the nurse to provide an ever-increasing range of strategies to meet the complex needs of clients.
  • the ability to explain the theoretical, empirical, ethical and experiential foundations of nursing practice.
  • contributes to the understanding and development of evidence-based nursing knowledge through involvement in research and the evaluation and utilization of relevant research findings.
  • influence upon the practice of nurses by facilitating the integration of research-based knowledge into practice.
  • planning, coordinating, implementing and evaluating programs to meet client needs through partnerships and intersectoral collaboration.
  • the ability to critically analyze and influence health policy.
  • substantive autonomy and independence, with a high level of accountability.
  • direct application of advanced knowledge and skill in meeting the health needs of clients.

Definition of Specialty Practice2

Specialty practice may focus on a specific area of nursing and be categorized by age (paediatrics, gerontology), a specific client care issue (pain management, bereavement), a medical diagnostic grouping (orthopaedics, cardiology), practice setting (emergency department, home care), or the type of care (wound care, critical care, palliative care). Specialty practice may also refer to nursing practice that intersects with another body of knowledge that has a direct impact on clinical nursing practice, and is supportive of the direct care delivered to clients by other nurses.

Specialty practice encompasses clinical specialties, administration, nursing education and research.

Adopted by Council October 2003

  1. Advanced practice definition and key characteristics adapted from the Canadian Nurses Association (2002, April) "Advanced Nursing Practice: A National Framework".

  2. Specialty practice definition adapted from the Canadian Nurses Association (2002, April) "Advanced Nursing Practice: A National Framework" and the American Nurses Association (2003, January) "Nursing: Scope and Standards of Practice." Public Comment Draft.

 

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