Lowe G., Plummer V., O’Brien A.P. & Boyd L. (2012) Time to clarify – the value of advanced practice nursing roles in health care. Journal of Advanced Nursing68(3), 677–685. Abstract Aim.  This article presents a discussion of the importance of providing meaningful advanced practice nursing role definition and clarity to improve international standards of nursing titles and scopes of practice. Background.  A plethora of international literature exists discussing advanced practice nursing roles and their contribution to healthcare delivery in various countries. However, lack of consistency around title, role definition and scope of practice remains. Data sources.  CINAHL and Medline databases were searched using ‘nurse practitioner’, ‘nurse practitioner role’, ‘nurse practitioner practice’, ‘nurse practitioner in public health’, ‘advanced practice nursing roles’ and ‘development of new nursing roles’ with articles limited to years 1995–2010. Citations used in those articles were also explored. All cited articles were in the English language. Discussion.  This article supports the need to strengthen the Nurse Practitioner role in health care and professional clarity is identified as a strategy to enhance this. Themes around role clarity, professional identity, ability to enhance healthcare provision and inter‐professional issues are examined. The need to more clearly articulate advanced nursing roles in light of the evolution of the Nurse Practitioner role is highlighted. Much work has already occurred in this domain and a means of adapting and broadening these developments for a wider, more global audience whilst maintaining local context is discussed. Conclusion.  Although evidence exists that advanced practice nursing roles are increasing internationally, uncertainty around role clarity remains. This is problematic because the valuable contribution of nursing roles is lost, if the ability to clearly express their function does not exist.

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Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCEs) are a well-known, reliable, and valid assessment method used across the healthcare sector. In the present study, we applied OSCEs in three units within professional postgraduate psychology courses, with the broad aims of identifying staff and student perceptions of the assessment. At the conclusion of each OSCE, staff and students completed a feedback questionnaire that contained both scaled and open-ended questions. Results suggest that clinical psychology OSCEs can be stressful for students, but are also well regarded. Both staff and students felt that the OSCEs were realistic, valid, and aligned well with professional practice. Students reported differences in the way in which they prepared for the OSCEs compared with a written exam or other form of assessment, while staff noted that models of OSCE development must be flexible, to adequately assess the objectives of individual units. Further, because they can be a costly exercise, OSCEs need to be applied judiciously within the tertiary sector. What is already known on this topic1 The Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) is a wellknown and well-regarded method of assessment used across the healthcare training sector. 2 There is a dearth of literature pertaining to the application of OSCEs within professional psychology training. 3 Literature in related disciplines suggests that OSCEs can be a positive learning experience, albeit an anxiety provoking one. What this paper adds1 Describes the application of OSCEs across three different units of study within a professional postgraduate psychology training programme. 2 Discusses student perceptions of the realism, validity, advantages, and disadvantages of psychology OSCEs. 3 Discusses staff perceptions of the realism, validity, advantages, and disadvantages of psychology OSCEs.

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There is evidence of support for nurse practitioner (NP) roles in national and international literature. However, despite this, and numerous Australian government feasibility and evaluation studies, barriers to implementing NP roles in mainstream health care and developing them to their full potential remain. A study was undertaken to explore nurse practitioners', managers' and nurse policymakers' perceptions of the roles in general, and this article reports on the findings from the initial survey phase. The article also discusses barriers to full integration and development of NPs.