Measuring practice patterns among acute care nurse practitioners.

Abstract

This initiative was designed to develop a reliable instrument to measure the activities of acute care nurse practitioners (ACNPs). A sound, standardized method for measuring ACNP productivity will assist nursing leaders and administrators to demonstrate the effectiveness and productivity of ACNPs in and across institutions and systems. Current research on ACNPs uses many different methodologies and research designs, and fails to provide standard definitions to measure practice patterns, making it difficult to generalize across settings. Advisory groups from 2 New York academic health science centers developed a survey that covered the demographic, educational, and employment characteristics of ACNPs, and a 20-item classification of advanced practice nursing activities. Sixty-one ACNPs completed surveys, a 58% response rate. The survey found strong similarities at both institutions. ACNPs spend most of their time in 5 activities involving direct care and 4 activities within indirect care. Strong Cronbach alphas confirmed that the instrument was reliable. The availability of a reliable instrument for measuring ACNP practice patterns provides administrators with a powerful tool to demonstrate the contributions of their ACNPs. In addition, a standardized method for data collection can contribute to healthcare workforce policy discussions.