Nursing roles and levels of practice: a framework for differentiating between elementary, specialist and advancing nursing practice

Summary • The recent profusion of new nursing roles in the UK has led to much confusion in the minds of health care consumers, employers, nursing practitioners and educationalists regarding the meaning, scope of practice, preparation for, and expectations of such roles. • Titles such as Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS), Nurse Practitioner (NP), Advanced Nurse Practitioner (ANP), Higher Level Practitioner (HLP) and more recently Nurse Consultant...