Question

• Describe the differences between a board of nursing and a professional nurse association.
• Describe the geographic distribution, academic credentials, practice positions, and licensure status of members of the board for North Carolina
  • Who is on the board?
  • How does one become a member of the board?
• Describe at least one federal regulation for healthcare.
  • How does this regulation influence delivery, cost, and access to healthcare (e.g., CMS, OSHA, and EPA)?
  • Has there been any change to the regulation within the past 5 years? Explain.
• Describe at least one state regulation related to general nurse scope of practice.
  • How does this regulation influence the nurse’s role?
  • How does this regulation influence delivery, cost, and access to healthcare?
• Describe at least one state regulation related to Advanced Practice Registered Nurses (APRNs).
  • How does this regulation influence the nurse’s role?
  • How does this regulation influence delivery, cost, and access to healthcare?

Answer 1

Definition of board of nursing:

A board of nursing is a regulatory body that oversees the practice of nursing within a defined jurisdiction, typically a state or province. The board typically approves and oversees schools of nursing within its jurisdiction. The board also handles all aspects of nurse licensure with its jurisdiction.

Definition of professional nursing association:

Membership in a professional nursing organization provides nurses with continuing education, certification opportunities, role-related competencies and educational conferences. Changes in healthcare occur almost daily. ... Nursing organizations promote and encourage the use of evidence-based practice to its members.

Difference Between board of nursing and professional nursing association:

Very simply, a board of nursing regulates nursing practice while a professional nursing organization advocates for nurses.

Let's start with a board of nursing. We have state boards and also a national board of nursing in the US, named the National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN). State boards regulate nursing practice by developing uniform rules and regulations for the field, accepting/accrediting nursing programs, overseeing the nursing licensure training process and enforcing the law regarding nursing practice. The NCLEX-RN and NCLEX-PN exams are developed and administered by the NCSBN. The state boards work together with the NCSBN to protect and advocate for the safety and well-being of all patients.

The NCSBN provides free training resources on their website. There are video libraries that discuss nursing regulations, substance abuse in nursing, professional boundaries in nursing and social media guidelines for nurses. There are also free and paid classes for the NCLEX-RN and NCLEX-PN exams online.

Nursing associations can be state-based, national-based (American Nurses Association - ANA) or international-based (International Council of Nurses - ICN - which is a federation of 130 national nurses associations). Nursing associations can be specific, or specialty-focused based on:

1) type of nursing (ambulatory, emergency room, etc.)

2) specific nursing fields (maternal care, cardiology, etc.)

3) age-specific (neonatal, geriatric, etc.)

4) ethnic (black, male, etc.)

5) advanced nursing specialties (nurse attorneys, nurse educators, certified nurse midwives)

6) education-specific (National League of Nursing - NLN, American Association of Colleges of Nursing, etc.)