Biomedical subjects

L P Woods

Publications and source records attributed to L P Woods.

9 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed1999

The contingent nature of advanced nursing practice.

This paper examines the issues faced by advanced nurse practitioners in the United Kingdom as they attempt to implement a new role in practice. The discussion draws on evidence gathered during a longitudinal study of a small number of graduates from a Master's degree programme who subsequently took up posts as advanced nurse practitioners. The paper focuses on one of the key findings to emerge from the inquiry, that of the identification of the contingent nature of advanced nursing practice. The data for the study were collected over a 2-year period via interviews, observation of clinical practice and self-report role development diaries. Following analysis it was revealed that, whilst the passage from experienced nurse to advanced nurse practitioner can be considered to be highly individual and complex, practitioners appear to move through three discrete stages during the transitional process. The first of the three stages is represented by a state of 'idealism' on the part of advanced practitioners. During the second phase, termed 'organizational governance', practitioners discover that, in contrast to their initial optimism, the orientation, goal and delivery of their role is controlled by key stakeholders within the organization. The final stage, 'resolution', is only reached when practitioners have been in post for more than 1 year and can be summarized as a state of acquiescence and compromise. A conceptual model is presented which illustrates the contingent nature of advanced nursing practice.

Data Collection↗

PubMed1998

Identifying the practice characteristics of advanced practitioners in acute and critical care settings.

This paper reports the results of a longitudinal, qualitative study into the role transition of advanced nurse practitioners (ANPs) in the UK. Following the completion of a Master's Degree in Health Studies programme, eleven ANPs working in high-dependency and acute care settings completed a purpose-designed 'role development diary' for the first six months they practised in their new role. In the diary, ANPs recorded the nature and focus of practice activities, identified the components of their practice perceived to be 'advanced', and documented the factors that influenced role implementation and development. Once completed, the diaries were subjected to a comparative analysis, which revealed that the level of patient dependency and the type of clinical environment had a direct bearing on the nature and extent of certain aspects of role performance. The findings also indicated that, whilst practitioners identified multiple components in their roles, priority was initially given to the acquisition and development of technical and diagnostic skills. It was concluded that variations in the performance of ANPs could be attributed not only to the nature of the clinical environment, but prevailing personal, political and organizational agendas.

Activities of Daily Living↗

PubMed1998

Implementing advanced practice: identifying the factors that facilitate and inhibit the process.

This paper reports the preliminary results of research investigating the factors that help or hinder advanced nurse practitioners as they attempt to implement new roles in clinical practice. Multiple facilitating and inhibiting factors are identified, the majority of which are shared across various clinical settings. Factors fall into three categories: re-negotiating relationships; becoming an advanced practitioner; and the clinical context and deployment. Whilst the results of this case study research are not necessarily generalizable, they provide evidence of the lived experience of advanced nurse practitioners attempting to implement new roles in a variety of clinical settings following their graduation from a Master's degree programme.

Education, Nursing, Graduate↗

PubMed1997

Conceptualizing advanced nursing practice: curriculum issues to consider in the educational preparation of advanced practice nurses in the UK.

The findings from a Florence Nightingale Scholarship to the USA and Canada, investigating the educational preparation of advanced practice nurses, are reported. The author considers a number of issues facing curriculum designers who might wish to develop clinically based advanced practice nurse programmes in the UK. Utilizing the experimental nature of personal visits, along with the available literature, the strategy adopted by some American and Canadian universities is highlighted to exemplify curriculum issues likely to be encountered in the UK. A definition of advanced nursing practice is provided as a foundation for discussion on curricular construction. This is followed by a discussion on advanced role nomenclature and components and characteristics of the 'nurse practitioner', 'clinical nurse specialist', 'nurse consultant' and 'nurse clinician', in order to clarify terminology and disentangle different advanced practice roles. The issues examined include the academic level of advanced practice nurse programmes; the determination of curricular content based on both a 'generalist' and 'specialist' model of practice; factors considered when exploring advanced practice competencies; and the resource implications for delivering opposing curriculum models. The paper suggests that there is a unique opportunity for advanced practice nursing to establish a key collaborative relationship in the delivery of health care, based on a nursing model, graduate study and the integration of key nursing and related concepts into clinical practice.

Curriculum↗

PubMed1973