Remembering the nurse in the business advanced practice

The question about whether advanced practice nurses maintain a nursing perspective in their practice has been asked. This article explores traditional practice differences between medicine and nursing and proposes a Cure-Care continuum as a framework to look at role delineation. The ANA Social Policy Statements and statements from national organizations representing advanced practice nurses are examined in looking further at advanced nursing practice. The statements reviewed and research to date focusing on outcomes of care by advanced practice nurses leads to the conclusion that the care is high quality and is delivered from a strong nursing perspective. Focus on this growing area of nursing should be on providing quality, comprehensive, cost-effective care in meeting health care needs in the future.