Expanding the caregiving environment for advanced practice neonatal nurses

Advanced practice neonatal nurses (APNNs) have participated as crucial care providers during the past two decades in supporting the development and implementation of safe, therapeutic interventions for critically ill infants in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). This role has been limited primarily to the NICU environment, however, and there has been minimal opportunity for APNNs to participate in caregiving that extends beyond this boundary. This boundary-based practice may no longer be practical as a result of significant changes in health care financing and health care reform. It is important for all neonatal health care providers to consider an expanded scope of practice for the APNN that extends beyond the NICU into the community and home and encompasses caregiving for the neonate and infant within the first year of life.