Advanced Practice

ENA's Institute for Emergency Nursing Advanced Practice

ENA is dedicated to supporting all emergency advanced practice nurses including nurse practitioners and clinical nurse specialists. To show this support, ENA established the Institute for Emergency Nursing Advanced Practice in 2014. Since that time, the ENAP Advisory Council has provided ENA with guidance on key topics specific to advanced practice and has developed a variety of resources needed to support its growing APRN members.

Jennifer Bevacqua, MS CPNP-AC/PC AG-ACNP CPEN CEN

Jennifer Bevacqua, MS CPNP-AC/PC AG-ACNP CPEN CEN, is a board-certified pediatric nurse practitioner (acute and primary care) as well as an adult-geriatric acute care nurse practitioner in Oregon. Much of her early career was in pediatrics—in EDs, inpatient, and urgent care settings—in addition to precepting in nurse practitioner programs through Rush University School of Nursing and Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center and teaching didactic at Oregon Health & Science University.

Several factors converged that led her to pivot into a community hospital’s emergency department in 2021. She completed her post master’s work as an adult-gerontology acute care nurse practitioner, was looking for a full-time position as an NP, and realized the current demand for her skills was in a general ED.

“The pandemic wasn’t hitting kids as hard (as adults),” she said. She was ready to shift her role to go where the need was greatest and work full time in an ED. She now works full time in the ED at Oregon Health & Science University Hillsboro Medical Center.

“Now I still get to see my babies and my toddlers and my kids, and I get to see sick adults too,” Bevacqua said. “There is such a need.”

Bevacqua is also passionate about professional issues that affect nurse practitioners, particularly scope of practice. She has worked with a coalition addressing state licensure issues, written on scope of practice issues in regard to acute care pediatrics, and also served on the Nurse Practitioners of Oregon’s Professional Practice Committee.

The ENAP Advisory Committee was a natural outlet for her to continue promoting the advanced practice specialty. Prior to that, she served for a term on ENA’s DEI Committee.

“I’m excited to continue work with ENAP and promote quality education for nurse practitioners,” she said.

Bevacqua said that even as a young child, she was always interested in anatomy and physiology. She earned her Bachelor of Science in nursing from Indiana University and her Master of Science, pediatric primary care nurse practitioner from Oregon Health & Sciences University. She continued her education with a post-master’s certificate, pediatric acute care nurse practitioner from Rush University, and a leadership certificate program from Harvard University School of Medicine & University College London before completing her last post-master’s adult-gerontology acute care nurse practitioner from Boise State University.

Bevacqua loves the wilderness and enjoys backpacking with her family throughout Oregon, and she has also worked as a camp nurse. Her love of the outdoors and desire to always be prepared prompted her to add the Advanced Wilderness Life Support certification to the numerous certifications she has achieved over the years

Whether it’s a fall, a surprise storm, or any other thing that can go wrong in the woods, she likes knowing that if someone in her party needs help, she could respond to it.

“I’ll know what to do, with no tools, no IVs,” she said.

Events

APRN Social Hours

These virtual social hour events provide a fun and casual way for APRNs to discuss topics relevant to their practice and engage with their colleagues who share the same clinical practice experiences.

Education

Procedural Sedation and Analgesia for the Advanced Practice Clinician
This course will prepare the Advanced Practice Clinician (APC) to safely provide procedural sedation and analgesia in the emergency care environment. It includes didactic content with current definitions, pharmacologic interventions and guidelines. Learn More

Practice Resources and White Papers

2021 Emergency Nurse Practitioner Competencies

The American Academy of Emergency Nurse Practitioners and the Emergency Nurses Association are pleased to announce the 2021 Emergency Nurse Practitioner Competencies are available.

This document represents the integration of previously published competencies from AAENP (2018) and ENA (2019). This integration was led by members of the Emergency Nurse Practitioner Competencies Work Group which included representatives from AAENP and ENA, and some individuals who worked on the most recent sets of competencies from each organization. The workgroup utilized an external validation process for review and revision of these competencies which are aligned with other national initiatives and documents that shape and define nurse practitioner curricular development. In addition to supporting emergency nurse practitioner academic preparation, the resulting unified set of ENP competencies supports current regulatory frameworks, credentialing and insurer challenges.

Practice Resources and White Papers

Click here to access the following practice resources and white papers:

• APRN position statement
• Competencies for nurse practitioners in emergency care
• Competencies for clinical nurse specialists in emergency care
• Scope and standards (includes APRNS)

Resources

Advanced Practice CONNECT Community

The Advanced Practice CONNECT Community is a space for members to network, ask questions, and focus on topics relevant to advanced practice. All ENA members with advanced practice credentials are automatically added to the community. Already a member? Click here to log in and access the community! Not a member? Learn more about membership here.

ENAP is in the process of developing a library for APRN-specific guidelines and recommendations used in clinical practice. The APRN Library will be located in the Advanced Practice CONNECT community.

Advanced Practice Reference Library

ENAP is excited to share the development of a reference library, which is available now through the AP Connect Community. To access these APRN-specific guidelines and recommendations in clinical practice, visit here and select the “APRN Practice Resource Library” folder.

A special thank you to the following contributors for their help in the resource library development: Heather Burgett, Meg Carmen, Nancy Denke, Bill Fiebig, David House, Audrey Snyder, and Julie Wescott.

Awards

ENA's Annual Achievement Awards recognize individuals who exemplify exceptional performance in professional practice, innovation, leadership or advocacy.

The Frank L. Cole Nurse Practitioner Award highlights excellence as a nurse practitioner in emergency care. The NP is recognized by peers, nursing and physician colleagues, and patients as a clinical expert who delivers compassionate, competent care in an emergency care setting. The recipient is actively involved in promoting the role of NPs and strengthening their image in emergency care.

The Clinical Nurse Specialist Award recognizes excellence as a clinical nurse specialist in the emergency care setting. The CNS is recognized by the emergency department staff as an expert, in practice or education, who makes significant contributions to practice or to the professional development of others.

Click here to view all ENA awards.

ENA Mentoring Program

Are you looking for a way to share your expertise and support ENA members? Get involved by signing up to be a mentor! Learn more.