Understanding the practice patterns of nephrology nurse practitioners in Australia
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Douglas, Bettina
Brown, Leanne
Harvie, Barbara
Lucas, Anthony
Tomlins, Melinda
Gillespie, Kerri
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Background: Nurse practitioners (NP) have an expanded scope of practice beyond that of a registered nurse. In kidney care, nephrology NP can manage patients at various points along the chronic kidney disease (CKD) trajectory. Objectives: To profile the characteristics, service patterns, and domains of practice of nephrology NP in Australia. Design: A cross-sectional online secure survey. Participants: Nephrology NP (NP students) who were members of the Renal Society of Australasia and working in Australia (n = 73). Measurements: Data collected were demographic and practice characteristics, and domains of practice (using the modified Strong Model of Advanced Practice). The survey also sought qualitative perspectives of the enablers and barriers to sustainability nurse practitioner healthcare delivery services. Results: Nephrology NP (n = 45) primarily worked in adult services, managing those receiving haemodialysis, peritoneal dialysis, or patients with earlier grades of CKD. Providing direct comprehensive care was the dominant domain of advanced practice although administrative activities took up considerable time each week. Support from nurse leaders and medical colleagues was identified as key enablers for sustainability of these services whereas succession planning, and workload were the main barriers. Conclusions: This study found a highly qualified, experienced but older nephrology nurse practitioner workforce who provide an additional model of health service delivery which can meet the growing CKD burden. Internationally, this level of nurse provides an opportunity for a career pathway to maintain nurses in direct clinical roles and to expand the nephrology nursing workforce.
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Journal of Renal Care
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© 2022 The Authors. Journal of Renal Care published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of European Dialysis & Transplant Nurses Association/European Renal Care Association. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium,provided the original work is properly cited.
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Clinical sciences
Nephrology and urology
Science & Technology
Life Sciences & Biomedicine
Nursing
Urology & Nephrology
advanced practice nursing
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Bonner, A; Douglas, B; Brown, L; Harvie, B; Lucas, A; Tomlins, M; Gillespie, K, Understanding the practice patterns of nephrology nurse practitioners in Australia, Journal of Renal Care, 2022