Advanced practice registered nurses are increasingly taking a prominent role in health care. Understanding professional liability exposures connected to their work in today’s litigious environment is paramount.
Nursing is the backbone of the health care world.
Many up-and-coming health care professionals find their way into nursing because they have a deep, inherent desire to help patients heal. Often, nurses are on the front line of people’s darkest moments — injury, illness and the like — and some of their biggest joys, like a new baby or the happy declaration of remission.
Nurses aiming to grow in their profession and thereby extend that level of care go on to become certified nurse midwives, nurse practitioners, certified registered nurse anesthetists or clinical nurse specialists.
Collectively, this group of health care heroes is called advanced practice registered nurses, or APRNs. And their number is expanding. “Growth of APRNs has been phenomenal,” said Wendy Alderman, RN, senior risk management consultant, ProAssurance. “From 2010 to 2017, the number of APRNs doubled, and…
