Enfermería de práctica avanzada: Praxis, políticas y profesión

This article summarizes and critically discusses recent policy changes in the nursing profession, usually known as advanced practice nursing. We review its historical development – with an emphasis on the USA and Canada – the making and the implications of the policy for the healthcare system, and the cultural and legal repercussions for health, nursing practice, and for nurses as social agents. While these insights are useful for setting a new agenda for health research, it also raises issues about internal contradictions with regard to medicalization, as well as the need to carefully evaluate the process of policy transfer.