Professional Practice, Policy, and Systems of Care
Professional identity and systems
Professional practice questions ask how the CPNP-PC functions within legal, ethical, and reimbursement systems. Know scope of practice and collaborative agreement requirements, licensure and certification maintenance, credentialing and privileging, and documentation standards. Understand Medicaid and EPSDT, CHIP, private insurance preventive services, coding and billing basics, and care coordination across school, home, and specialty settings. Recognize mandatory reporting duties for suspected abuse, neglect, and certain communicable diseases.
Ethical and legal concepts
Master consent and assent, confidentiality for adolescents, exceptions to confidentiality (safety risk, abuse, reportable conditions), HIPAA privacy, and state minor-consent laws for reproductive and mental health care. Apply cultural humility, trauma-informed care, and health equity principles. Know quality improvement methods and the nurse practitioner's role in advocacy and policy.
Question traps
Traps include promising absolute confidentiality to a teen, ignoring state law, breaching privacy in a school or telehealth setting, confusing certification with licensure, and choosing an advocacy action when a report is legally required. When federal and state rules differ, follow the more protective and legal requirement.
Worked example and rule of thumb
A 16-year-old requests confidential STI testing. Explain the limits of confidentiality, obtain consent per state law, document appropriately, and provide treatment and partner services as allowed. Rule of thumb: know your state's minor-consent and reporting rules before the visit, not after.