Advanced practice and the 5,000 hours
General information only, not legal or regulatory advice; check the official NMBA page before applying.
What advanced practice means
The glossary of the NMBA Nurse practitioner standards for practice says advanced practice is where nurses incorporate professional leadership, education, research and support of systems into their practice. Their practice includes relevant expertise, critical thinking, complex decision-making and autonomous practice, and is effective and safe. They are responsible and accountable in managing people who have complex healthcare requirements.
The glossary also says advanced practice is shown by a level of practice, not by a job title or level of pay.
The 5,000 hours
For NP endorsement, the glossary says advanced practice requires 5,000 hours of clinically based advanced practice in the past six years. The endorsement guidelines describe this as the equivalent of three years' full-time experience, counted from the date the NMBA receives your complete application.
The evidence the guidelines ask for
You need to show practice at the advanced level as the NMBA defines it. The guidelines ask you to clearly document examples of:
- leadership
- education activities
- research
- support of systems
- autonomous practice
- complex decision-making
- management of, and direct clinical care of, people with complex health conditions.
You can give this evidence in your CV or through case studies. Case studies cannot be the same ones you used for your Master of Nursing (NP) program.
How EndorseMe helps
- Practice hours (open in EndorseMe) adds up your employment periods and shifts against the 5,000 hours and keeps an evidence ledger against the seven areas above.
- Case exemplars (open) is where you write de-identified cases that show your reasoning.
- Your CV (open) records the split between clinical and non-clinical time in each role.
EndorseMe adds up what you enter. It cannot decide whether your practice meets the NMBA definition. That is for the NMBA.