Advanced Nursing Practice in Austria under consideration of outcome measurement

Abstract

Background: Internationally, Advanced Practice Nurses (APN) are associated with improvements when measuring results in health care. Advanced Nursing Practice (ANP) refers to an extended nursing care with the aim of meeting the changing conditions in health care systems by providing evidence-based practice. APN outcomes are the endpoints of nursing interventions based on clinical experience, scientific knowledge, and practical skills. Due to the challenges in health care systems, Advanced Practice Nurses have become well established internationally in various fields. Problem: In Austria, the first nurses are currently trained in Advanced Nursing Practice on a master's level according to the International Council of Nurses core curriculum (ICN). However, national implementation and evaluation strategies are still missing. Objective: The aim of this short report is (i) to show the current situation of APNs in Austria, and (ii) to underline the importance of measuring APN outcomes in implementing this role for future developments in health care. Method: A literature search was conducted in CINAHL (Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health), PubMed, and the Cochrane Library in the period 09/2019 to 01/2020. Results: With the help of APNs and coordinated, holistic, patient-centered care, a higher quality of care for different patient groups is clearly evident. The cost-effectiveness and the positive experience of both patients and nursing staff have been demonstrated in international studies. In particular, the guidance and educational skills of APNs have been shown to improve health outcomes in vulnerable population groups. Conclusion: With regard to the implementation of APNs in the health care system, more focus is needed on the measurement of outcomes in nursing research. Outcome research has been shown to help identify the unique effect of APNs in patient care and to highlight the health-related improvements through Advanced Nursing Practice for health policy and further developments in the health care system.

Advanced Practice Nursing Roles, Regulation, Education, and Practice: A Global Study

“…This same limitation of data collection on APNs persists throughout many of the countries and jurisdictions of the world. Nonetheless, it is known NPs and CNSs are established in the Americas (US [ 19 ], Canada [ 19 ], Jamaica [ 20 ], Belize [ 20 ], Brazil [ 20 ], Chile [ 20 ], and Columbia [ 20 ], among others), much of Europe (Austria [ 21 ], Belgium [ 22 ], Czech Republic [ 22 ], Finland [ 22 ], France [ 22 ], Germany [ 23 ], Republic of Ireland [ 22 ], the Netherlands [ 19 ], Poland [ 22 ], Switzerland [ 23 ], the UK [ 22 ], among others), Australia [ 22 ], New Zealand [ 19 ], a few countries in Africa (Botswana [ 19 ], Ghana [ 24 ], Eswatini [ 25 ], Kenya [ 19 ], Namibia [ 19 ], and Zimbabwe [ 19 ], among others), and a few countries in Asia (Israel [ 23 ], Japan [ 22 ], Oman [ 19 ], Singapore [ 19 ], and Taiwan [ 26 ], among others). This aligns well with the responses obtained not only from this study but also those cited in Table 2 , and may point to areas of the world that could potentially benefit from NP and CNS role introduction.…”

Development of clinical competence – a longitudinal survey of nurse practitioner students

“…University College, Oslo, Norway. 3 Faculty of Education and Welfare Studies, Åbo Akademi University, Vaasa, Finland. 4 Faculty of Medicine and Health Science in Gjøvik, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Gjøvik, Norway.…”

“…At least one-third of all OECD (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development) countries reported in 2012-2013 that during the previous 5 years, they had expanded their scopes of practice of non-physicians, including advanced roles for nurses [2]. Research indicates that APN is beneficial in terms of achieving health outcomes for patients and patient satisfaction [3][4][5]. On 1 February 2020, Norway introduced regulations for registered nurses (RNs) with a Master's degree in APN [6] as part of an effort to meet the challenges facing the primary health care sector [7].…”

Comparative Analysis of Advanced Practice Nursing: Contextual and Historical Influences in North American and German-Speaking European Countries

“…In 2018, the National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties (NONPF) re-picked up this goal to establish the DNP as the entry level degree by 2025 (Jacobs, 2021). This drive is supported by major APN nursing organizations, such as AANA (American Association of Nurse Anesthetists) (Hawkins & Nezat, 2009), NANNP/NANN (National Association of Neonatal Nurse Practitioners/National Association of Neonatal Nurses) (NANNP Council, 2018),…”

“…Although the first doctor of philosophy (PhD) program in nursing science was offered in 2000 at the Medical University of Graz, in cooperation with Maastricht University in the Netherlands and Bern University of Applied Sciences in Switzerland (Lohrmann, 2016), neither the bachelor's degree nor the doctoral degree qualified graduating nurses to go into advanced practice nursing. The first postgraduate studies began in 2012 as nonconsecutive programs in advanced nursing practice at the Danube University Krems, as well as in Vienna and Linz (Glarcher & Lex, 2020). Paracelsus Medical University (PMU, 2020) opened the first program, Master in Nursing Science, in 2014 and an APN program in 2018.…”