Scope Of Practice In Nursing

The purpose of this discussion post is to understand the scope of nursing practice. I will discuss the nurse’s scope of practice as defined by the American Nurse’s Association, Pennsylvania Nurse’s Association, and to explain a clinical scenario in which I have successfully applied the scope of practice in a clinical setting. As defined by the American Nurse’s Association, nursing is to improve the health of the public through prevention, diagnosis, treatment and advocacy (American Nurses Association, 2013). The nurse’s scope of practice is defined for nurse’s to understand the actions allowed within their licensure.
Pennsylvania defines the nurse’s scope of practice in greater detail. It is the nurse’s responsibility to act in the patient’s best interest, to …show more content…
A specific example of when I have utilized the scope of practice is when I was assessing my patient, and noted abnormal findings, which were supported by her critical lab values. I displayed knowledge of the disease process and notified the medical resident of her changing condition. A condition was called, the team decided to keep her on the floor with close monitoring. Her condition continued to deteriorate, I displayed advocacy for my patient’s well being by calling another condition and requesting her to be sent to the critical care setting for closer monitoring. I followed my scope of nursing practice and recognized my limitations in the situation and contacted the appropriate team to address the condition. Even when the doctor’s did not immediately transfer her, I continued to monitor and notify the doctor’s again with her change in condition. In conclusion, I believe it is critical for all nurses to have knowledge of the scope of practice for nursing because it is the boundaries of what they can and cannot do. It protects the public as well as themselves and allows safe and competent nursing practice throughout the