The emerging role of the advanced practice epilepsy nurse: A comparative study between two countries.

Abstract

The aim of the study was to compare advanced practice in epilepsy nurses in Spain and United Kingdom, identifying differences in the domains of standard advanced practice. Europe has recently faced the challenge of providing high-quality care for patients with epilepsy, a disease that generates many health demands. In some countries, such as the United Kingdom, advanced practice nursing is well established and could serve as a guide for implantation in countries where it is still in development, as is the case of Spain. A multicentre cross-sectional descriptive cohort study compared differences in the roles of advanced practice nurses in Spain and the United Kingdom. The Advanced Practice Role Delineation Tool and its validated Spanish version were administered using an online questionnaire in a cohort of advanced practice epilepsy nurses in both countries. A convenience sample was recruited between January to December 2019. The study complied with the Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology (STROBE) checklist. Most United Kingdom nurses in our sample came from community environments, in contrast to Spanish nurses who worked in hospital. All domains analysed in the survey had significantly higher scores in the United Kingdom than in the Spanish cohort, especially in the research and leadership domains. The advanced practice role in Spain is underdeveloped compared with the United Kingdom. Differences in the settings of advanced roles in epilepsy nurses may be explained by greater community practice in the United Kingdom and differences in organisational and health systems. Our study showed the need to implement specific policies to develop advance practice nurse roles in Spain to improve the quality of care of patients with epilepsy.