Introduction: An expanded role in nursing is emerging globally responding to the need for increased human resources to achieve Universal Health Coverage. The roles of advance practice nurses (APN) are at different phases of development throughout the world, including Europe, Asia, Africa, North America, New Zealand and Australia.  Central and South American countries are not yet significantly represented in the APN movement. A study was conducted to establish consensus for APN Core Competencies relevant for in Latin American countries (LAC) that would provide the framework to build a prototypical competency-based curriculum for use in LAC. 

Objectives: Develop a consensus-based set of advanced practice nurse (APN) competencies applicable in LAC and, using the competencies, produce an APN curricular prototype for adaptation in LAC.

Methodology: An exploratory survey was used to map APN competencies applicable for LAC. A survey was designed to delineate APN practice and competencies in relation to universal access and primary health care in LAC.  The survey was distributed to nurse educators and leaders in nursing services throughout LAC. Descriptive statistics including frequencies and rates were used to summarize the data.

Results:  The competencies were rated agree/strongly agree (above four on a five-point Likert scale) across all competencies as 1) a valued component of primary health care and 2) universal health coverage and a realistic goal for advanced practice nursing in their country.

Conclusions: The consensus-based Core APN Competencies will be presented as a structured framework to build educational programs aligned to the needs of the regional environment.