ABSTRACT
Advanced nurse practitioner (ANP) roles have been evolving in the United Kingdom. They have developed in a multitude of areas in both primary and secondary care sectors. In 2015, the Faculty of Intensive Care Medicine (FICM) produced its own competency framework whereby on completion the individual would be registered with FICM as an advanced critical care practitioner (ACCP). The typical ACCP is an experienced nurse from the critical care environment; many will have worked at charge nurse level for some years in critical care. Prior to training, most nurses will have already completed a diploma, often at degree level in critical care nursing. Training of ACCPs is at the master's level, and involves non-medical prescribing, training in examination and history taking, diagnostics and investigations, resuscitation and transfer of the critically ill. ACCPs are not a replacement but a complement to the traditional medical roles within the critical care team.
