Nurses’ understanding of a developing nurse practitioner role in the Norwegian emergency care context: A qualitative study

In Norway the nurse practitioner (NP) role is still in its infancy. To succeed with implementation of this new role stakeholder involvement is important, and there should be an explicit need for change. The aim of this study was to explore registered nurses’ understanding of how the NP role could contribute to meeting patients’ needs for care in the emergency care context, and nurses’ perceptions about the implementation process. The study is a qualitative interview study. The interviews were analysed by means of qualitative content analysis. Two themes presented themselves: the NP role being an autonomous role suitable for non-urgent patients, and the NP role being diffuse as well as a threat to colleagues and organizational structures. The results indicate that the NP role can make a valuable contribution to meet current challenges in the emergency care context. However, for successful implementation, the management team plays an important role in leading change and engaging co-workers to be part of the process. In further research, it is recommended to evaluate the forthcoming implementation process and, later on, to evaluate the outcomes of NP practice in the emergency care context in Norway.