Senior Nurse Manager Perceptions of Nurse Practitioner Integration: A Quantitative Study

Area of Science:

• Healthcare Management
• Nursing Practice
• Health Policy

Background:

• Nurse Practitioner (NP) roles are established in Ireland and Australia, supported by national policies to expand the health workforce.
• Senior Nurse Managers are crucial for overseeing NP role integration, impacting service sustainability.
• Current integration practices lack consistency, necessitating a review of management perceptions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To ascertain Senior Nurse Managers' perceptions regarding the integration of Nurse Practitioner roles within healthcare organizations in Ireland and Australia.
• To identify barriers and facilitators to effective NP role integration from a management perspective.

Main Methods:

• A quantitative, cross-sectional study utilizing a cloud-based survey.
• Data collected from Senior Nurse Managers in Ireland and Australia between April and September 2022.
• 122 eligible responses analyzed from an initial 300.

Main Results:

• 77% of respondents advocated for a specific local role to support NP integration, with 61% recommending a national-level role.
• 48% reported a lack of standardized governance structures for NPs.
• While performance indicators exist for NPs (55%), only 24% felt they captured care quality, and 35% reported agreed reporting timelines.

Conclusions:

• NP integration is not consistently established across Ireland and Australia, despite existing structures in some organizations.
• Nurse Practitioners are often misunderstood, highlighting the need for a structured integration framework.
• Developing a comprehensive framework will yield long-term benefits for NP role implementation and healthcare services.