Although the APRN roles are distinct in their own right, this shouldn't mean that Advanced Practice should be fragmented as well. I want to suggest why not rename all the APRN roles, CRNA, NP, CNM and CNS into one singular term, Nurse Practitioner.
CRNA = Anesthetic NP
CNM = Obstetric NP
CNS = Clinical Specialist NP
NP = (Insert Specialty) NP
NP is already very well known to the public. I think this would not only lessen confusion but improve the public image of Advanced Nursing. It would also unify all the roles, just like every other health profession. Why keep the alphabet soup in our profession (eg: RN BSN MSN CRNA CNM CNS DNP ETC ETC ETC)?
Matthew Andrew, NP
Another BOLD idea for our profession... thoughts?