A review of advanced practice nursing in the United States, Canada, Australia and Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR), China

This paper provides an overview of Advanced Practice Nursing(APN)in the USA,Canada,Australia and Hong Kong.It is based upon documents presented to the China Medical Board(CMB)China Nursing Network(CNN)as background for discussions held by the CNN in Shanghai.It discusses the APN role in these countries and regions according to topics identified by the CNN.These are APN educational preparation;role legitimacy;capacity requirements;scope of practice,domains of activities and limited rights for prescription and referral;professional promotion ladder;accreditation system;and,perfor-mance evaluation system.Both Canada and Australia have adapted many aspects of the USA model of APN to fit their specific legislative requirements and local conditions.Hong Kong has taken a different path which may be of interest in the Chinese context.

Contextualisation of Early and Enhanced Clinical Exposure Model through Development of Curricula for Advanced Practice Nursing and Midwifery

Background: An Advanced Practice Nurse is a generalist or specialized nurse who has acquired thorough graduate education a minimum of a master’s degree. The need for Advanced Practice Nurses is increasingly recognized globally. This paper describes the process, which was undertaken by School of Nursing Sciences, University of Zambia in reviewing and developing advanced practice nursing and midwifery curricula which will be implemented using the Early and Enhanced Clinical Exposure model (EECE). Materials and Methods: The curricula development/review process utilized a modified Taba’s Model which followed a step-by-step approach including: 1) desk review, 2) diagnosis of needs (needs assessment), 3) stakeholder consultations, 4) content development, 5) validations and approval from which several lessons were learnt and recommendations made. Findings and recommendations from different stages were used as a basis for reviewing and developing advanced practice nursing and midwifery curricula. Results: Desk review needs assessment and stakeholder consultations identified both strengths and weaknesses in the existing curricula. Major strengths were duration and core courses which met the minimum requirement for postgraduate nursing and midwifery training. Major weaknesses/gaps included some content that was too basic for the master’s level and the delayed exposure to practicum sites which limited the development of advanced practice skills. Others were inadequate competence for advanced practice, inadequate research methodology course, lack of content to foster development of personal soft skills and predominant use of traditional teaching methods. Stakeholders recommended implementing advanced, clinical and hands-on Masters of Nursing and Midwifery programmes which resulted in the review of four existing and development of five demand-driven curricula. Conclusion: The reviewed and developed curricula were strengthened to close the identified gaps. Both the reviewed and developed curricula have been implemented using the Early and Enhanced Clinical Exposure Model with a view to producing Advanced Practice Nurses and Midwives who are competent to meet diverse health care needs and contribute to improving patient outcomes.

Strategic directions and actions for advanced practice nursing in China

There is a need and opportunity for China to develop education and practice innovations given that advance practice nurses (APNs) improve health care and outcomes.The China Medical Board (CMB)China Nursing Network (CCNN) began planning for an Advanced Nursing Practice Program for education and career development that will facilitate CCNN's contributions to meeting national nursing policy priorities.This paper presents the discussion,recommendations and action plans developed at the inaugural planning meeting on June 26,2015 at Fudan University in Shanghai.The recommendations are:Develop standards for advanced nursing practice;Develop Master's level curricula based on the standards;Commence pilot projects across a number of University affiliated hospitals;and Prepare clinical tutors and faculty.The strategic directions and actions are: Develop a clinical career ladder system;Expand the nursing role from hospital to community;and Build a specialty nurse accreditation system.

Perceptions of the effectiveness of Advanced Practice Nurses on a neurosurgery unit in a Canadian Tertiary Care Centre:A pre-and-post implementation design

Objectives:A framework for the advanced practice nurse(APN)role was developed in our Canadian Tertiary Care Centre,delineating five domains of advanced nursing practice:clinical practice,consultation,research,education and leadership.The goal of this study was to evaluate perceptions of the effectiveness of the implementation of an innovative APN role on an in-patient Neurosurgery unit.Methods:A pre-and-post implementation design,incorporating both qualitative and quantitative data,was utilized.An innovative APN role was implemented within the Neurosurgery program focusing on the clinical domain and required the successful candidates to be NP prepared.This APN role was designed to improve patient flow,documentation,communication and patient and staff satisfaction.Three primary outcomes were measured:pre-implementation questionnaire(nurses),post-implementation questionnaire(nurses and residents)and number of pages to the on-call resident.Results:Survey scores by nurses and residents indicated improvement across all aspects studied.Average scores increased from 1.1 to 2.6,reflecting an overall statistically significant increase.The number of pages to the on-call resident also showed a decrease.Conclusion:Perceptions of patient care delivery and professional collaboration improved following implementation of the APN role.Responses indicated that APNs significantly impacted patient care and improved nurses and residents'job satisfaction.

Current status of clinical nursing specialists and the demands of osteoporosis specialized nurses in China's Mainland

The clinical nursing specialist(CNS)is an expert who applies an expanded range of practical,theoretical,and research-based competencies to the care of patients within in a specialty clinical area within the larger discipline of nursing.A large number of studies consistently conclude that the CNS is a valuable healthcare resource that provides highquality clinical and evidence-based nursing practice and improves patient outcome.The CNS has been involved in healthcare practices for many years,with an increasingly diverse role.However,the training for the CNS in China is only in a preliminary developmental stage.The aim of this article is to review the history and development of the CNS role.Furthermore,the epidemiologic status of osteoporosis,as well as the feasibility and necessity of developing training programs in China for the osteoporosis CNS,will be discussed.

A survey of moral distress in certified registered nurse anesthetists:A theoretical perspective for change in ethics education for advance practice nurses

Objective:The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between moral distress that may affect patient safety,and the clinical practice model,assessing ethical decision-making skills of certified registered nurse anesthetists(CRNAs).Methods:A survey using the Ethical Stress Scale(ESS)and the Ethical Assessment Skills Survey(EASS)was conducted with 134 CRNAs.Results:Results indicated no significant effect of practice model on level of moral distress or perceived ethical assessment skill knowledge[Wilks's lambda=0.952,F(6,256)=1.068,P=0.382,n^(2)=0.02].A statistically significant positive correlation existed between importance and skill(r=0.275,P=0.001).CRNAs felt skilled to manage the actions or activities they deemed important.Conclusion:CRNAs who perceived a higher skill level in addressing ethical issues experienced lower levels of moral distress.Findings indicate content-specific curricula for the CRNAs need to be evaluated for ethical decision-making skill assessment content.

A theoretical framework for interaction of nursing discipline with genetics and genomics

Background:Since the completion of the Human Genome Project,health science has been strongly influenced by the advances in genetics and genomics.However,the progress of embracing genetics and genomics into nursing discipline is limited.One of the main barriers is lack of understanding on the relevancy of genetics and genomics to nursing discipline.Objectives:This paper aims to synthesize and develop a theoretical framework for the interaction of nursing discipline with genetics and genomics.Methods:Through content analysis and constant comparative method,a theoretical framework was developed from synthesis of the studies regarding nursing and genetics/genomics indexed in multiple English and Chinese databases.Results:Four main theoretical statements were constructed in the framework:1)There are three ways to show how genetics and genomics can influence nursing discipline:a new specialty,new technologies and a new lens;2)The significant contribution of nursing discipline to genetics and genomics lies in how nurses could focus on the association between human responses and genes and how nurses could advocate for their clients in the genetic and genomic era;3)A paradigm shift occurs after a constant interaction of nursing discipline with genetics and genomics;4)Implementation strategies could be used to facilitate the integration of genetics and genomics to nursing discipline and advance the paradigm shift.Conclusions:The framework will help to understand the relationship between nursing discipline and genetics and genomics and implicate the future studies integrating genetics and genomic science into nursing discipline.

A systematic review of the effectiveness of clinical nurse specialist interventions in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease(COPD)

Objective： This review aimed to examine the effectiveness of clinical nurse specialist （CNS） interventions in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease （COPD）. COPD significantly affects people＇s health worldwide. With the development in nursing, CNSs are playing increasingly important roles in different departments. However, the studies on the effectiveness of CNSs in COPD are not as well organized as the studies on the effectiveness of CNSs in bronchiectasis and asthma. Therefore, this review aims to find some updated evidence on the CNS interventions for patients with COPD and on whether these interventions are effective.Methods： A narrative analysis of the data was performed for the eligible studies. Four databases were chosen： CINAHL, MEDLINE, British Nursing Index, and Cochrane Library. Other websites such as the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence, National Health Service Evidence, Association of Respiratory Nurse Specialists, and National Association of Clinical Nurse Specialist were searched as well. Two reviewers performed study identification independently, and all the retrieved articles were stored using the EndNote X7 software. The risk of bias in the included studies was assessed using the Cochrane Collaboration＇s risk of bias tool. Results： A total of nine studies were included in this review. There were five current interventions by CNSs for patients with COPD. These interventions were home nursing support, CNS]s supported discharge, multidisciplinary cooperation programs, nurse-led care programs, and self-care management education. The effectiveness of these five interventions was evaluated individually. There is low- to moderate-quality evidence indicating that home nursing support interventions may have a positive effect on mortality and quality of life. No significant difference in quality of life has been found between the CNS-supported discharge intervention and the usual service. The multidisciplinary cooperation program probably had a positive effect on quality ot life in patients with COPD. Both nurse-led care and self-care management education intervention had a positive effect on mortality of patients with COPD.Conclusions： The findings of this review provide updated evidence on the effectiveness of CNS interventions for patients with COPD. Although nine trials were included and five types of interventions were identified, there is still lack of high-quality evidence.

Nurses Perception of Advance Nurse Practitioners Roles in Public Hospitals: A Qualitative Study

Aim: To explore the nurses’ perceptions about the advanced nurses’ practitioner’s role in public hospitals in Saudi Arabia. Background: Advanced nurse practitioners are one of the leading professionals who contribute to health promotion, disease prevention, health counseling and patient education. However, misunderstandings of their roles may have an impact on the performances of the function that limits their access and the use of significant resources that can help patients to obtain treatment. Methods: This is a qualitative exploratory study conducted on nurses working in three public hospitals. Semi-structured interviews were conducted among fourteen nurses between October-January 2020. The three public hospitals were based in Eastern (1) and Central (2) Saudi Arabia regions. Data analysis was conducted through thematic analysis utilizing inductive and deductive coding. Results: The study found that the role of Advanced Practice Nurses will enhance, motivate, and sustain the status of nurses in Saudi Arabia. Findings indicated that advanced practitioners’ educational preparedness, organizational, and contextual factors are important factors that need to be addressed to promote their role and to improve nurse’s perception about the APN role in clinical practice. Conclusion: This research provided new evidence to support the need to raise understanding of the role of advanced nurse practitioners among nurse members, advanced nurses and clinical nurse specialists who wish to enhance quality healthcare delivery and job satisfaction in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Recognizing the factors that comprise the function and status of APNs will assist health-care officials to make informed decisions when designing a national policy and a plan for the implementation and the development of the role of APNs.

Advanced practice nurses transitional care promotes anticoagulation therapy of warfarin in atrial fibrillation patients in South China

Background Advanced practice chronic conditions. However, nurse transitional care has been proofed to be important for older adults with such effectiveness has never been studied in the management of appropriate Warfarin use in clinical practice. Methods A total of 97 patients were randomly distributed into control group who received usual care, and interventional group who received transitional care provided by APNs. A 12-month observation of both groups were recorded by physicians and APNs and the impact of APNs on the managing of Warfarin therapy was also evaluated based on time in the therapeutic range （TTR）. Results APNs transitional care significantly （P 〈 0.01） improved patients＇ adherence, increased TTR and high TTR ratio compared with control group. Re-admission due to stroke was significantly （P 〈 0.01） reduced by APNs transitional care. Conclusion APNs transitional care improves patients＇ knowledge on AF and reduces stroke risk. The current research strongly suggest the necessity of APNs transitional interventional in managing anticoagulation therapy in AF patients in China.

What are the barriers to implementing nurse practitioners’ role in health settings?

Background:Nurse practitioners can assist the healthcare system by administering care to patients with medical or complex or chronic conditions by providing medical and nursing care in an expanded scope of practice.However,there are barriers that influence the implementation of nurse practitioners'role in health settings.Influences among systemic or organization levels have impeded nurse practitioners'role implementation.All 10 studies included in this integrative review are critically explained based on the relevant information categorised into three themes:a lack of clarity regarding nurse practitioners'role,fees for service physician remuneration and resistance from other health professionals.The 10 studies included in this integrative review reveal barriers to nurse practitioners'role implementation in health settings.Objectives:The aim of this integrative literature review is to identify the barriers to implement the nurse practitioners'role.Therefore,the following research question is posed:"What are the barriers to implementing the nurse practitioners'role in health settings?".Methods:An integrative review of the medical and nursing research literature has been conducted using a systemic search accessing CINAHL,Medline,Scopus and PubMed databases.The identified 287 articles have been narrowed to 10 articles based on specific inclusion and exclusion criteria.A limitation search was applied at the beginning of the search phase to assist in identifying the range and type of studies potentially available for synthesis.The srearch was limited to human,peer reviewed and full text articles available in English language without a date limitation to obtain a large number of avilable studies that were relevant to the topic.Finding:The literature search resulted in 10 primary studies that met the inclusion criteria.All studies included in this integrative review reveal barriers to nurse practitioners'role implementation in health settings.All studies found three barriers that can impact on the implementation which are:the lack of clarity of nurse practitioners'role,fees for service physician remuneration and resistance from other health professionals.Conclusion:Health settings must prepare the surrounding environment and the culture before implementing a new role,such as that of nurse practitioners.Implementing new roles into the organization is not straightforward:multiple influences can affect the implementation,such as barriers.Understanding the involvement of nurse practitioners'role in health settings by health care providers have to be visible and clear and changes that may occur as a result of implementing the role need to be identified to ensure the successful implementation.