Just got APRN license, still working as RN. Which license to sign with?

Riburn3, BSN, MSN, APRN, NP · Jan 14, 2015

I'm in your boat and and I sign as an RN since that is what I am hired as, and that is what my role is. I don't perform any roles or tasks of an APRN in my current job, and have not been given clearance by my hospital to function as an APRN.

If something were to happen to a patient and you get called into court sometime down the road, and they see your "APRN" signature on there and find out you were not hired or cleared by your facility to work as an APRN, it would create a world of trouble for you.

anh06005, MSN, APRN, NP · Jan 14, 2015

That was my thinking as well but couldn't really find anything in my Nurse Practice Act about it. Figured somebody here might have insight.

Thanks!

I just wanna make sure I am crossing T's and dotting I's as I make the transition cause it's confusing at times lol.

allnurses Guide · Jan 14, 2015

You want to sign as RN.

Sent from my iPhone.

ArrowRN, BSN, RN · Feb 1, 2015

The whole "you are held to the highest license you hold" is one of the biggest myths in nursing. I'm not an NP but I did inquire about this in details from my BON and at the end of that quote you have to include, "in the capacity for which your employer has hired you". If you are hired based as an RN you will only be liable for duties as an RN and you have to sign as an RN until such time that your employer officially hires you in an active working position of your higher degree. In laymans terms its sorta like having an engineering degree and working at McDonalds...yep you will be underemployed and overqualified for that temporary time period.

TammyG · Feb 2, 2015

ArrowRN is correct that an NP practicing in an RN role will most likely be held to the standard of a reasonably prudent RN. In the RN role, you will not be diagnosing or prescribing. However, an enterprising attorney certainly could make the argument that your additional certification and education -- even if you do not hold yourself out as an NP and do not have NP responsibilities -- places a standard of care on you higher than a reasonably prudent RN. If you sign yourself as an NP you are holding yourself out as an NP with higher levels of training, and therefore the attorney could make this argument much more easily. I haven't researched to see if there are any cases out there where an NP practicing as an RN was held to a higher standard of care, but I would not completely discard it as a possibility. If the state board of nursing had issued regulation or guidance on this issue, it would be influential (but not conclusive) to a court deciding a malpractice claim.

What this comes down to is that you should sign yourself as an RN to avoid any question about what standard of practice you are practicing under.