Study Resources

The Core Curriculum for Ambulatory Care Nursing, 4th edition, is the primary evidence-based book that contains the core body of knowledge of ambulatory care nursing. It reflects the test content addressed in the ambulatory care nursing certification exam.

The 4th edition has been organized and expanded to address the educational needs of nurses either new to the specialty or those experienced, as well as to provide a review for those who seek specialty certification as an ambulatory care nurse.

New features of the 4th edition include:

• New and reconfigured chapters to address ambulatory care nursing professional communication, procedures and technical skills, leadership, nurse-sensitive indicators, and care coordination and transition management.
• Expanded content on telehealth technologies, interventions for health promotion and disease prevention, and needs of special populations at end-of-life and in sedated and surgical procedures.
• New content on emerging clinical issues which may be observed by nurses in almost any ambulatory care setting, such as pain management, dementia, opioid overdose, and re-emerging vaccine-preventable infectious diseases.

The Core Curriculum is written in outline format for easy review and reference. This excellent study resource offers over 30 contact hours of continuing nursing education credit, which are free to AAACN members. Non-members may purchase NCPD contact hours.

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Test your knowledge and identify areas you need to concentrate on, whether you’re preparing for the ambulatory care nursing certification exam or looking to energize and advance your practice using the Ambulatory Care Nursing Review Questions, 5th edition.

• Multiple choice questions written in the format of the ambulatory care nursing certification exam, drawn from the AAACN Core Curriculum for Ambulatory Care Nursing, 4th Edition.
• Questions are organized into five Domains of Practice, per the ANCC Ambulatory Care Nursing Certification Exam:
  • Clinical Practice
  • Communications
  • Professional Role
  • Systems/Legal and Regulatory
  • Education
• Correct answers, rationale, and source page(s) in the AAACN Core Curriculum for Ambulatory Care Nursing, 4th Edition.

Tip: Test your knowledge of ambulatory care practice by first answering all of the Review Questions. This will identify those areas where you can focus your study. When you've completed studying for the exam, test your knowledge by once again answering the Review Questions. 

The Scope and Standards of Practice for Professional Ambulatory Care Nursing explicitly identifies and defines ambulatory care nursing practice in outpatient settings.

The Scope of Practice:

• Describes the who, what, where, when, why and how of professional ambulatory care practice.
• Offers a picture of the dynamic and complex nursing role in outpatient settings and its evolving boundaries.
• Defines the ambulatory care nursing specialty.
• Presents the conceptual framework for the practice.

The Standards of Practice:

• Describe the responsibilities for which ambulatory care RNs are accountable.
• Address the art and science of clinical nursing practice.
• Describe competent performance expectations in the organizational and professional dimensions of the RNs role.

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This course provides an overview of the potential content that is tested on ANCC's Ambulatory Care Nursing Certification Exam. AAACN offers the course in several formats to meet your learning needs.

Learn more about the Ambulatory Care Nursing Certification Review Course

Straight from the live Ambulatory Care Nursing Certification Review Course to you is this course handbook. Content is based on the Test Content Outline for ANCC's Ambulatory Care Nursing Certification Exam.

The Handbook contains the slide handout from the Certification Review Course.

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