Defining the urology nurse practitioner role in the United States: A Delphi study.

Abstract

Nurse practitioners (NPs) achieve expertise in urology environments due to on-the-job training and independent study, coupled with mentoring. This creates a wide variety of preparation and role descriptions, and despite the availability of sought NP certification in urology, there is not a current definition for a "urology NP." This project sough to develop a contemporary definition of the urology NP role, based on expert opinion. Study design was the Delphi method, which evaluates consensus and opinion when there is incomplete knowledge or lack of evidence. Participants were a nonrandom panel of experts on the urology NP role with at least 2 years as a full-time urology NP. This exempted study collected data via an online platform that ensured anonymity, and was completed in two rounds. The following definition is proposed after the study results: "The Urology NP provides acute and chronic care to individuals experiencing urological health care needs across the lifespan, engages in office-based urology procedures in accordance with the state Board of Nursing, maintains membership in professional organizations and acts as preceptor to all health care disciplines." Certification in the specialty role was deemed important. Results demonstrated the very patient-care centered nature of this specialty NP role, as professional roles of the NP were given less weight. The project offers a definition of the urology NP role that can be offered to educators and other stakeholders.