Overview of nursing practice regulation in the United States

Abstract

The processes of licensure, certification, accreditation, and registry for the system health personnel in the United States are the legal mechanisms of competency evaluation supported by the State to guarantee health services with the minimal standards of quality and safety. Along more than a century from their origin in the nursing profession, these processes have been developed originally by the definitions and legal regulations shaped with the specific description of qualifications and responsibilities of the nurses in order to legalize and regularize their practice, by means of the Nursing Practice Acts. Even though the outcomes of these evaluations caused the current professional regulation method, limitations on the scope of practice and the procedures to evaluate competency have been described as deep disadvantages and serious questions about it. On the other hand, with these evaluative processes not only the encouragement to integrate nursing groups and associations with specific tasks were achieved, such as the definition of competencies by specialized areas, but also, the evaluation and feedback methods in education, practice, research and the evolution of the nursing profession by itself were fortified, generating the internal and external transformation of the profession and guaranteeing its advance over the health system scenery