Advanced Practice Nursing: Defining the Practice

The term advanced practice registered nurse is used to identify nurses who have completed a master's or doctoral degree (eg, clinical nurse specialist, nurse anesthetist, nurse practitioner, nurse midwife). Advanced practice nursing is the application of this graduate-level education to a specific patient population or a specialized clinical application (eg, certified registered nurse anesthetist). This article describes the education, practice, and core competencies of the clinical nurse specialist.