Patient experiences of consulting advanced practice nurses in primary care: a cross-sectional study

Advanced practice nursing has been implemented across the world to meet primary care needs and improve care provision. This study had two-fold aims: first, to explore patients' experiences in terms of patient satisfaction and patient enablement after consulting Finnish Advanced Practice Nurses (APNs) in primary care; second, to explore the potential factors associated with these patient experiences, such as patients' overall health status and language differences between the APNs and the patients.

A cross-sectional design was applied in this study, utilising a validated instrument, the Patient Enablement and Satisfaction Survey for Advanced Nurse Practitioners, along with a short questionnaire tailored for APNs. In total, 25 APNs and 483 patients participated in the data collection between January and June 2025. Descriptive statistics, Chi-square test, Fisher's exact test, independent samples Welch's t-test, Mann-Whitney U test, one-way Welch's Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), one-way Kruskal-Wallis test, and Spearman's correlation were used in the analysis.

Patients highly rated their consultation with APNs in primary care, with high levels of patient satisfaction and enablement being reported. However, slight differences were observed regarding these aspects among Nurse Prescribers, Nurse Practitioners (NPs), and NPs with prescriptive authority. Patients who spoke the same language as the APN and rated their overall health status more positively identified increased satisfaction and enablement regarding APN consultations.

This study provides new evidence of patient experiences in utilising care and services provided by APNs in Finland. It also offers more information for policy makers and nurse leaders on the implementation and overall importance of advanced practice nursing in primary care. The results may also contribute to facilitating the legislative process of registering Finnish NPs and Nurse Prescribers as titles at the national level.

Clinical trial number: Not applicable.