Nurse practitioner work : a case study

Within any professional practice, knowledge developments to support service delivery and to understand roles inherent within that practice context are critical. The purpose of this article is to present findings from case study research that used the AUSPRAC Research Toolkit Interview Schedule and to propose an additional theme to the Interview Schedule. Case Study method was used to explore the role of a nurse practitioner within a specific context of practice in an Australian Healthcare institution. Three semi-structured interviews with a Nurse Practitioner using the AUSPRAC Research Toolkit Interview Schedule and one additional interview were employed. Data was analysed where initial free coding, then theme generation contributed to knowledge development. The AUSPRAC Research Toolkit Interview Schedule generated knowledge about the nurse practitioner role. Themes identified for interviews in the Schedule were; the organisation of care, team functioning and patient service. Analysis of data from these themes identified that information related to ongoing development of professional practice was not forthcoming from the participant. The authors recommend adding a fourth theme to the Interview Schedule to enable exploration of the professional elements of the Nurse Practitioner role.