FAQS

Use these resources to get a full overview of this topic.

State Boards of Nursing and Nurse Practice Acts

• Your first step in understanding both nursing role and nursing scope of practice is to look at your state's nurse practice act. Use this tool from the National Council of State Boards of Nursing to find the appropriate nurse practice act. Also look at your state board of nursing's website for additional information.
• For a quick overview of nurse practice acts, take a look at Lisa Lockhart's article Nurse Practice Acts and the Provision of Safe, Competent Care.
• Remember to cite the nursing practice act.

ANA, NAPNES, and Other Professional Organizations 

• Review both the American Nurses Association's Nursing: Scope and Standards of Practice and the National Association for Practical Nurse Education and Service's Standards of Practice and Educational Competencies of Graduates of Practical/Vocational Nursing Programs.
• Look at ANA's Code of Ethics with Interpretive Statements.
• Research nursing professional organizations/associations to learn more about nursing roles and professional identity. 

Library databases

For scholarly articles on nursing role, nursing scope of practice, and professional identity, search Discovery, CINAHL, or Health Sciences and Nursing via ProQuest using the search terms below. These terms can be searched on their own or in combination with other search terms (for example, "Practical nurses" AND "Scope of Nursing Practice"). Placing quotation marks around these phrases will ensure that the words are searched as phrases rather than as individual words.

• "Practical Nurses"
• "Registered Nurses"
• "Scope of Nursing Practice"
• "Nursing Role"
• "Nursing Practice -- Standards"
• "Professional Role"
• "Professional Identity"
• "State Boards of Nursing"
• "Professional Regulation"
• "Nurse Practice Acts"
• "Legislation, Nursing"
• "Licensure, Nursing"

References

American Nurses Association. (2015). Code of ethics with interpretive statements. https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=ip,shib&db=nlebk&AN=1021757&site=eds-live&custid=s9076023&ebv=EB&ppid=pp_C1

American Nurses Association. (2021). Nursing: Scope and standards of practice (4th ed.). https://openathens.ovid.com/OAKeystone/deeplink?idpselect=https://idp.rasmussen.edu/openathens&entityID=https://idp.rasmussen.edu/openathens&T=JS&NEWS=n&CSC=Y&PAGE=booktext&D=books&AN=02233716$&XPATH=/PG(0)&EPUB=Y

Lockhart, L. (2020). Nurse practice acts and the provision of safe, competent care. Nursing Made Incredibly Easy!, 18(3), 56. https://doi.org/10.1097/01.NME.0000658204.89628.2a

National Association for Practical Nurse Education and Service. (2007, May 6). Standards of practice and educational competencies of graduates of practical/vocational nursing programs. https://napnes.org/wordpress2/standards_2009.pdf