Ambulatory care nursing conceptual framework

The ambulatory care nursing conceptual framework was developed in 1998 as a precursor to the ambulatory care nursing certification exam. A "think tank" group of AAACN members was convened by Sheila Haas, PhD, RN, a AAACN past president, to develop a framework that described the ambulatory care nurse role and the essential knowledge and skills required by nurses practicing in this role.

A conceptual framework is a diagram that specifies essential major concepts and skills in an area of practice and also spells out the relationships between major content and skill areas. The goals of the think tank were to provide such a framework to help develop the certification exam, a core curriculum textbook, and certification review programs to aid those studying for the exam.

Using a nominal group approach, members enumerated the major areas of practice, knowledge, and skills required for ambulatory care nursing. The think tank listed 61 core knowledge and skill areas, some more global than others. They were then asked to specify how these areas are related to each other in the overall ambulatory nurse role. Three broad roles were identified as "Clinical Nursing," "Organizational/Systems," and "Professional."

The 61 core knowledge and skill dimensions were then organized under each role and became the vertical axis of the conceptual framework. To complete the framework, think tank participants defined the ambulatory patient population in the categories of "Well," "Acute," "Chronic," and "Terminally III." These categories are listed on the horizontal axis of the framework are shown in Table 1.

Cynthia R. Nowicki, EdD, RN

Sheila A. Haas, PhD, RN, FAAN

Cynthia R. Nowicki, EdD, RN, is AAACN Executive Director and Vice President, Nursing Education, Anthony J. Jannetti, Inc.

Sheila A. Haas, PhD, RN, FAAN, is Dean and Professor, Niehoff School of Nursing, Loyola University Chicago, Chicago, IL. She can be reached at shaas@luc.edu.

Copyright American Academy of Ambulatory Care Nursing Mar/Apr 2003
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