Appraisal of the emergency nurse practitioner specialty role

The role of the Emergency Nurse Practitioner (ENP) has evolved as a specialty and is appreciated within the context of the 2008 Consensus Model document (APRN Consensus Work Group & National Council of State Boards of Nursing APRN Advisory Committee, 2008). The first in a series of five articles, this article describes the appraisal of the ENP role as well as the specialty and the distinctive role of the ENP. The second article, Emergency Nurse Practitioner Practice Analysis: Report and Implications of the Findings, presents research to support the scientific basis of emergency specialty practice and content validity for a national certification program. Article 3, Beyond Competencies; Practice Standards for Emergency Nurse Practitioners: A Model for Clinicians, Educators, and Employers, introduces a new conceptual model that defines the specialty of emergency care's knowledge, skills, and abilities identified by the ENP practice analysis as practice standards not traditional competencies. In Article 4, Proposed Standardized Educational Preparation for the Emergency Nurse Practitioner, essential content for ENP preparation within graduate, postgraduate, and doctoral programs. The fifth article, Envisioning the Future for ENPs: Implications for Clinical Practice, Education, Research, and Health Policy, describes how ENPs are envisioning and impacting the future of emergency care and how their evolution can serve as a model for development of other advanced practice nursing specialties.