FNP or WHNP?

Annaiya, NP · Mar 18, 2012

Texas, really? That's not good, one of the places i was thinking of perhaps practicing in ...I do not plan on living rurally. So as an fnp in texas i couldn't practice in an ob/gyn office?

lol, funny that you should say that. The TX BoN actually specifically addresses this on their website. From reading it, my guess is an OB/GYN office would be less likely to hire an FNP, because they would be worried about scope of practice issues, but that is just speculation on my part. I know how this is affecting acute care, but not primary care. I took this from: http://www.bon.texas.gov/practice/apn-scopeofpractice.html

Q: My office practice employs two advanced practice nurses who are approved in different specialties. I understand that there is overlap in their scopes of practice. [An example of such a situation is an OB/GYN setting in which both a family nurse practitioner (FNP) and a women's health nurse practitioner (WHNP) practice]. Does this mean both advanced practice nurses have the same scope of practice in this setting?

A: BON Rule 221.12 defines the advanced practice nurse's scope of practice. It is important to understand that scope of practice for the advanced practice nurse is founded first and foremost upon his/her advanced educational preparation. The patient population, individual advanced educational program content and competencies attained in the advanced practice nursing educational program always serve as the foundation for advanced nursing practice. Rule 221.13(b), relating to the core standards for advanced practice, further states that advanced practice nurses must practice within the role and specialty appropriate to their educational preparation.

Although both programs included content related to a particular specialty or sub-specialty, the depth of the content included in each program varies significantly. As in the example of OB/GYN specialty content for the FNP and WHNP, the FNP educational program provided some content related to OB/GYN. It did not, however, include OB/GYN specialty content to the same depth that the WHNP's program did. Therefore, although there will be overlap in the scope of the services each advanced practice nurse provides in this setting, there may be procedures or patient care activities that are within the WHNP's scope of practice that are not within the FNP's scope of practice in this particular setting. Each advanced practice nurse is responsible for practicing within the role and specialty authorized by the board and appropriate to his/her educational preparation. Additionally, each advanced practice nurse is responsible for recognizing when he/she is in danger of exceeding his/her personal and professional scope of practice.