Introduction The health care facilities in the United States need to provide the services to the constantly increasing number of clients. As a result, there is the demand for the health care providers and advanced practice nurses (APNs) who can perform the functions of health care practitioners. However, the problem is in the fact that the recruitment of nurses in the US health care facilities is often challenged by a range of certification, licensing, and credentialing issues. Although state boards of nursing work to provide requirements for APNs, regulatory and credentialing barriers still exist, and it is necessary to discuss these issues in the context of developing concepts of ‘profession’ and ‘professionalism’ for APNs, as well as historical aspects of developing APN roles. Specific Regulatory and Credentialing Issues The main regulatory issues that are usually faced by APNs who plan to work in the US health care facilities are the provision of limited licensure for some of APN roles in different states; different regulatory or licensure requirements adopted in all states; the necessity of being regularly certified according to the regulations adopted in the concrete state. Thus, state boards of nursing use various titles for APNs to determine the performed roles and nurses’ duties, and these disparities also influence the opportunities of APNs to receive the limited or full licensure (WOCN Society National Public Policy Committee, 2012). The other important issue is the adoption of different regulations and licensure requirements in different states. If a nurse is certified and licensed in one state, but she moves to another state, this nurse can face the necessity of being licensed one more time according to the regulations of the concrete state. As a result, specific regulations adopted in different US states limit nurses in their abilities to develop their careers widely in the country. One more issue is the necessity of being certified each five years as it is a typical requirement in the most states of the country (Lowe, Plummer, O’Brien, & Boyd, 2012, p. 679). The certification renewal is obligatory for all APNs, and it is often based on changes in the regulations regarding the practice of APNs, and this situation creates the additional challenge for nurses. The credentialing issues are also important to be discussed because each state and even each health care facility adopt specific credentialing principles according to which the qualifications of APNs are assessed. The issue is in the fact that if APN was assigned to have certain credentials in one health care facility, she needs to be assessed according to the requirements of the concrete organization while choosing the position in another health care facility (Hansen-Turton, Ware, Bond, Doria, & Cunningham, 2013, p. 308). Thus, the main problem is in the fact that all states have adopted different APN definitions and regulatory standards, and all APNs are limited in their mobility. Regulatory Barriers From this perspective, the regulatory barriers that exist for APNs today include the restrictions associated with disparities in certification, licensure standards, and requireme