Measuring practice patterns among acute care nurse practitioners
Related Experiment Video
Updated: Feb 19, 2026
Author Spotlight: Evaluating Clinicians' Adoption of Ultrasound-Guided Vascular Cannulation Through Simulation Training
Published on: August 9, 2024
Peri Rosenfeld1, Mary Dee McEvoy, Kimberly Glassman
1Division of Nursing, Steinhardt School of Education, New York University, New York, 10003-6677, USA. peri.rosenfeld@nyu.edu
Objective:
This initiative was designed to develop a reliable instrument to measure the activities of acute care nurse practitioners (ACNPs). A sound, standardized method for measuring ACNP productivity will assist nursing leaders and administrators to demonstrate the effectiveness and productivity of ACNPs in and across institutions and systems.
Background Data:
Current research on ACNPs uses many different methodologies and research designs, and fails to provide standard definitions to measure practice patterns, making it difficult to generalize across settings.
Methods:
Advisory groups from 2 New York academic health science centers developed a survey that covered the demographic, educational, and employment characteristics of ACNPs, and a 20-item classification of advanced practice nursing activities. Sixty-one ACNPs completed surveys, a 58% response rate.
Results:
The survey found strong similarities at both institutions. ACNPs spend most of their time in 5 activities involving direct care and 4 activities within indirect care. Strong Cronbach alphas confirmed that the instrument was reliable.
Conclusions/Implications:
The availability of a reliable instrument for measuring ACNP practice patterns provides administrators with a powerful tool to demonstrate the contributions of their ACNPs. In addition, a standardized method for data collection can contribute to healthcare workforce policy discussions.
Related Concept Videos
01:19Guidelines For Measuring Vital Signs
Before taking a patient's vital signs, a nurse would consider and assess the patient's comfort level and ensure appropriate equipment is available.
01:30Current Trends in Nursing II
01:25Assessment of apical radial pulse
The A-R pulse assessment involves simultaneous evaluation of the apical and radial pulses. When the apical and radial pulse rates vary, this assessment helps identify a pulse deficit.
Pre-Procedural Preparation
01:29Nursing Assessment
The nurse collects all aspects of the patient's health in the initial assessment, establishing priorities for ongoing focused assessments...
01:28Current Trends in Nursing I
01:21Interdisciplinary Care: The Health Care Team-I
Physicians
The physician's primary responsibility is to diagnose illness and direct the medical or surgical treatment of the condition. The authority to admit patients to a healthcare agency or institution and practice care within that setting is granted to physicians by the healthcare agency or institution...