Impact of postgraduate education on advanced practice nurse activity - a national survey

BACKGROUND: There is a wealth of international evidence concerning the contribution post-registration master's level education makes to advancing the discipline of nursing. There are approximately 277 nurse practitioners registered in NZ, but they account for only a small portion of nurses who have undertaken master's level education. The additional contribution these nurses make to the work environment through advanced practice activities has not, hitherto, been documented. OBJECTIVES: To report the extent of advanced practice nurse activity associated with various levels of nursing education in a sample of nurses working in clinical practice in New Zealand. METHOD: A replication of recent Australian research was done via a national cross-sectional survey of 3255 registered nurses and nurse practitioners in New Zealand using an online questionnaire to collect responses to the amended Advanced Practice Delineation survey tool. In addition, demographic data were collected including position titles and levels of postgraduate education. RESULTS: A positive association was found between postgraduate education at any level and more time spent in advanced practice activities. Independent of level of postgraduate education, the role a nurse holds also effects the extent of involvement in advanced practice activities. CONCLUSIONS: There is an additional contribution made to the work environment by nurses with master's level education which occurs even when they are not employed in an advanced practice role. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING POLICY: These findings are of significance to workforce policy and planning across the globe as countries work to sustain health services by increasing nursing capacity effectively within available resources.