Advanced Nurse Practitioners’ (Emergency) perceptions of their role, positionality and professional identity: a narrative inquiry

Aims To explore Advanced Nurse Practitioners' (Emergency) perceptions of their role, positionality and professional identity. Background Advanced nursing practice was formally established in the Republic of Ireland in 2001 with 336 Advanced Nurse Practitioners currently registered increasing to a critical mass of 750 by 2021. Advanced practitioners (Emergency) provide full emergency care for a specific cohort of clients with unscheduled, undifferentiated and undiagnosed conditions. Design Qualitative narrative inquiry using Bourdieu's concepts of habitus, field and capital as the theoretical framework was undertaken. Methods Data were collected in ten in‐depth interviews and thematic analysis applied. Results Five key themes emerged: participants' career pathways, personal and professional transitions, role dimensions and core concepts, position in the organisation and emergent professional identity. Role‐transitioning and a change in habitus, field and capital revealed the uniqueness of their nursing role. Minimising waiting times, timely patient care and patient satisfaction were key performance indicators. A heightened awareness regarding higher‐level decision‐making, autonomy and accountability are integral to advanced practice. Conclusion This study presents unique insights into the advanced nurse practitioner role covering recruitment, organisational culture changes required and support to ease transition emerged. Impact Better understanding the motivation to undertake the role, the transition experience and use of advanced practice skills‐sets will inform the targets for the future recruitment and retention of Advanced Nurse Practitioners are met nationally and internationally. Dissatisfaction with previous management roles and wanting to be clinically‐close to patients were motivations to follow an advanced practice clinical career trajectory. Positionality and emergent professional identity are key enablers ensuring advanced practitioners' roles demonstrate the attributes of advanced practice. Educators could use the findings to develop recruitment, retention and progression strategies. Disseminating the role and scopes of practice could positively influence collaborative models of service delivery and policy development

Weight Care Project: Health professionals' attitudes and ability to assess body weight status - Study protocol

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Health professionals working in primary care and public health have opportunities to address body weight status issues with their patients through face-to-face contact. The objectives of this all-Ireland project are: 1. to assess the attitudes, current practices/behaviours and knowledge of key health professional groups on body weight status; 2. to assess the health professional groups' ability to identify body weight status in both adults and children. The health professional groups are: (a) community related public health nurses; (b) school public health nurses; (c) GPs and practice nurses (primary care); and (d) occupational health nurses (workplace) from both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.</p> <p>Methods/Design</p> <p>This all-Ireland multi-disciplinary project follows a mixed methods approach using both quantitative and qualitative methodologies, and consists of four components:</p> <p>1. Literature review - to explore the role of health professionals in managing obesity through spontaneous intervention in a variety of health promotion settings.</p> <p>2. Telephone interviews and focus groups - to gain an in-depth insight into the views of health professionals in assessing body weight status.</p> <p>3. Survey (primarily online but also paper-based) - to determine the attitudes, current practices/behaviours and knowledge of health professionals in assessing body weight status.</p> <p>4. Online evaluation study - an online interactive programme will be developed to assess health professionals' ability to identify the body weight status of adults and children.</p> <p>Discussion</p> <p>This project will assess and report the attitudes, current practices/behaviours and knowledge of key health professional groups within Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland on body weight status, and their ability to identify body weight status in both adults and children. The results of this project will generate recommendations for clinical practice in managing obesity, which may inform policy guidelines.</p