Advanced Practice Nurses’ experiences of working in primary health care in Western Finland – the first step of an action research project.

Background Advanced Practice Nurses are now present in over 100 countries. One of the most topical issues in Finland is access to care, service provision, and treatment for patients with acute health problems, and in addition, Finland faces workforce shortages. In Finland education for Advanced Practice Nurses started in 2006, however, the Advanced Practice Nurses’ scope of practice and expertise seem to remain underutilised in many regions. This study is part of an action research project between the university and the regional health care and welfare organisation in Western Finland. The goal of this four-year project is to further develop and evaluate advanced practice nursing models in primary health care. The first step of the project is to map the current state of advanced practice nurses’ scope of practice.
Aim: This study aimed to describe the Advanced Practice Nurses’ experiences of working in primary health care.
Methods The data was collected by individual and focus-group interviews utilising a semi-structured interview guide. Interviews were transcribed verbatim, and data was analysed descriptively utilising inductive content analysis.
Key results The main themes include: practice patterns on an advanced level, developing a meaningful and trusted role, invisibility of the role and limited organisational support. Data from each theme will be presented during the presentation.
Conclusion Despite a level of support from coworkers and self-achievement, Advanced Practice Nurses are partially dissatisfied with their jobs due to lack of Advanced Practice Nurse positions, restricted scope of practice and limited salary increases. Advanced Practice Nurse roles and models need to be developed for this role to impact service provision in Finland.
Significance The results of this study will be a beneficial resource for creating a strategic plan for Advanced Practice Nurses models in the actual region and will be discussed with partners and leaders of the project.