Table 1.

Attributes of specialist nurse and advanced nurse practitioners

	Specialist nursing practice		Advanced nursing practice
	Essential	Additional	Essential	Additional
Experience		Long-term clinical experience		Long-term clinical experience
Qualifications	Qualification in specialist field (BSc)	MA/MSc	MA/MSc	Qualification in specialist field
Role functions	Prescribing Linking with other agencies/coordination Research Quality improvement	Diagnosing Assessing Leadership management Teaching Education	Autonomous practice Diagnosing/assessing/physical examination/admitting Prescribing Leadership/management Staff development/supervision Research Quality improvement Promote evidence-based practice Teaching/education	Inter-professional working
Additional nursing competences	Advanced communication skills		Advanced communication skills	Critical appraisal

Reproduced from [17].