Embracing the future for emergency nurse practitioners and specialty practice: Implications for research, clinical...

The emergency nurse practitioner (ENP) specialty has grown rapidly, responding and adapting to changes within emergency care. Designation and advancement of nurse practitioner (NP) specialties follows a systematic process as defined by the profession. This includes establishment of scope and standards of practice, educational standards, and policy initiatives to ensure quality and safety within the profession. This article describes how the ENP specialty has used evidence to meet health system needs and chart a transformational future. Current recommendations for advancing health care transformation, as described by the American Association of Colleges of Nursing-Manatt Report, inform and frame the processes by which the ENP specialty has collaborated with diverse stakeholders to create a research and policy agenda to ensure that ENPs are appropriately prepared to lead and provide access to safe, affordable, quality health care. These processes provide a future-oriented model that promotes advancement of the NP profession through provision of new NP specialty designations as they emerge to meet changing health care system needs.