Credentialing: setting standards for advanced nursing practice.

Abstract

While the document Framework, Guidelines and Competencies for Post-Registration Nursing Education (Nursing Council of New Zealand, 1999) provides for approval of programmes preparing nurses for advanced practice, the related credentialing and titling of individual nurses in advanced practice has not been addressed. This article examines professional regulation with particular reference to advanced practice. As well as providing an overview of credentialing and other aspects of professional regulation, including licensure, certification, registration, and titling, the question of how much regulation, and by whom, will be explored. The paper has been prepared independently of the Nursing Council, and may not necessarily reflect the Council's views.