Role delineation study of pediatric nurse practitioners: a national study of practice responsibilities and trends in...

This study explored the current practice responsibilities of pediatric nurse practitioners (PNPs) from a national perspective Educational preparation, geographic region of practice, years of employment as a PNP, type of employment setting, and full-time versus part-time employment were examined.

From a randomly selected sample (N = 997), a total of 387 respondents returned their questionnaire, resulting in 325 usable questionnaires.

Years of experience as a PNP, setting of employment, geographic region, prescriptive authority, and subspecialty practice were significantly related to various health supervision and illness-focused activities performed by PNPs, as well as level of management responsibility. Anticipatory guidance supervision continues to be an integral part of the PNP role. PNPs report that they assume major responsibility for the health assessment and management of children with common pediatric illnesses as well as chronic illnesses and conditions.

The ability to prescribe prescription medications produced the greatest overall effect on PNP role activities and level of management responsibility. Years of experience exerted an interesting effect on role functions related to the overall health supervision and illness-focused activities in which PNPs engaged. Implications for the educational preparation of PNPs, the updating of national certification examinations, and planning for adequate numbers in the workforce to replace the cohort of retiring PNPs in the next 20 years are discussed.