Nurse practitioner hospitalists: An empowered role

Area of Science:

• Healthcare delivery
• Advanced Practice Nursing
• Hospital Medicine

Background:

• Nurse practitioners (NPs) are increasingly integral to hospital medicine groups.
• Prior research suggests NP hospitalists experience a sense of empowerment in their roles.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe the work experience of the national nurse practitioner hospitalist workforce.
• To explore the factors contributing to the empowerment of NP hospitalists.

Main Methods:

• Qualitative exploratory study utilizing five focus groups with NP hospitalists.
• Thematic analysis and synthesis of transcribed focus group data.
• Inductive coding to identify and refine key themes.

Main Results:

• Psychological empowerment emerged as the overarching theme for NP hospitalists.
• Five subthemes of empowerment were identified: collegiality, autonomy, role preparation, the road traveled, and pathfinder.

Conclusions:

• Educational programs require alignment with current NP hospitalist practice.
• Hospital bylaws need revision to adequately support NP hospitalist roles.
• The APRN Consensus Model may not fully encompass the scope of hospitalist NP practice.