Perceptions of the challenges facing nurse practitioners in providing care to children

Pediatric nurse practitioners (NPs) play an essential role in achieving optimal child health. However, few studies have examined barriers to implementing pediatric NP roles.

The purpose of this study was to identify challenges in pediatric NPs' practice that limit their ability to provide care.

The authors conducted a secondary, qualitative analysis of survey data collected by the National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners. The authors analyzed data from one open-ended question, "What is the biggest challenge to the pediatric-focused NP role?" An inductive thematic analysis resulted in discovery of 18 themes.

A total of 980 pediatric NPs responded, most (67.9%) were primary care pediatric NPs, and 15.2% were acute care pediatric NPs. Challenges aligned with four megathemes: who we are , what we can do , what we need , and what our patients need .

Pediatric NPs identified barriers to role recognition that align with improving professional identity.

Future research should address barriers to role recognition that can increase the ability of pediatric NPs to provide child health care.