Role Transition: A Concept Analysis DQ
Role Transition: A Concept Analysis DQ
Select one of the articles from this week’s Electronic Reserve Readings to use as the basis for this assignment. Article selected(Nurse Practitioner Role Transition: A Concept Analysis)
Create 18 to 20-slide Microsoft® PowerPoint® presentation on the article with detailed speaker notes.
Include the following in the presentation:
-Describe the credentials of the author(s): academic credentials, position held, and any other information available which is usually located at the bottom of first page of article or after the reference list.
-Explain why you selected the concept analysis.
-Describe each step of concept analysis from the article. The number of steps in the concept analysis will depend on the method selected by the author(s).
-Describe how you could apply the concept analysis to your practice.
Provide references for all sources cited on a separate slide and format according to APA guidelines.
Correspondence Hilary Barnes, MSN, CRNP, PhD (candidate), Widener University, Chester, PA E-mail: hbarnes@mail.widener.edu
Barnes
AIM. A concept analysis of nurse practitioner (NP) role transition. BACKGROUND. The Affordable Care Act is expected to provide 32 million Americans with health insurance, and NPs are gaining attention in addressing this increasing demand for healthcare providers. However, there is limited analysis of the transition from registered nurse to NP. Oftentimes, during this transition, there is a shift from an experienced, expert status to an inexperienced, novice status, with a subsequent loss of confidence in one’s ability and competence. This can hinder successful role development and affect employment continuity within the first year of practice. METHODS AND SOURCES. NP role transition was examined using Walker and Avant’s method of concept analysis. Electronic databases were searched using the terms role transition and nurse practitioner. Thirty articles from nursing, psychology, and business were included. FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS. The four defining attributes of NP role transition are absorption of the role, the shift from provider of care to prescriber of care, straddling two identities, and mixed emotions. Personal and environmental antecedents and consequences of the concept are identified. The development of empirical knowledge on NP role transition through further research is important in order for new-to-practice NPs to become high-quality, full-functioning providers. Role Transition: A Concept Analysis DQ
The transition from registered nurse (RN) to nurse practitioner (NP) can be a significant adjustment in an individual’s career. The transition is rarely easy, and even during the most positive of experiences it can be stressful (Cusson & Viggiano, 2002). During NP role transition, there is the shift from an experienced, often expert status in the RN role to an inexperienced, novice status in the NP role. This change in profes- sional identity can lead to an individual’s loss of confidence, which can hinder successful role develop- ment. Consequently, this impaired role development can affect employment continuity and the decision to remain in the profession within the first year of prac- tice (Cusson & Strange, 2008).
Transitions, as a concept in nursing, have been described as complex and multidimensional (Meleis, Sawyer, Im, Hilfinger Messias, & Schumacher, 2000). They are defined as the period of change between two
relatively stable states that comes with some degree of self-redefinition (Chick & Meleis, 1986). Transitions can occur at any time in an individual’s life; affect one’s environment, health, or relationships; and are shaped by many factors and forces (Heitz, Steiner, & Burman, 2004; Steiner, McLaughlin, Hyde, Brown, & Burman, 2008). Specifically, the changes that occur can be significant for an individual when the transi- tion involves a change in a job or career path (Chick & Meleis, 1986).
With the advent of the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) and the pending changes to the U.S. healthcare system, it is anticipated that there will be a need for an increased number of pro- viders to care for the estimated 32 million Americans who will become eligible for health insurance (Mann, 2011; PPACA, 2010). As an integral part to this changing system, NPs are being viewed as part of the
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137 © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Nursing Forum Volume 50, No. 3, July-September 2015
solution in addressing the nation’s primary care and healthcare needs (American Association of Nurse Practitioners [AANP], 2013a). However, there has been limited examination of the concept of NP role transition and a lack of development of an operational definition of the concept, along with identification of its attributes, antecedents, and consequences.
The purpose of this article is to analyze the concept of NP role transition and develop an operational defi- nition for its use. NP role transition is an important concept for nursing science and nursing practice. As NPs gain greater exposure and professional status in health care, helping new-to-practice NPs move through this transition quickly and smoothly is critical to maintaining continuity of care for patients and opti- mizing efficiency for healthcare systems.
Method
NP role transition was examined using Walker and Avant’s (2005) method of concept analysis. This method examines the basic elements of a concept to determine its defining attributes at the present time. It can be used to clarify a concept that may be unclear or ambiguous and provide a foundation for further development. Within nursing, there are many oppor- tunities to observe and experience phenomena. Concept analysis is important for describing and explaining these phenomena in order to develop the body of literature and advance nursing science (Walker & Avant, 2005). Role Transition: A Concept Analysis DQ
Walker and Avant’s (2005) method was modified for nursing from Wilson’s (1963) classic procedure of concept analysis. The steps included in this analysis were the following: identifying the concept of interest, determining the purpose of the analysis, identifying uses of the concept, determining the defining attri- butes, identifying the antecedents and consequences, identifying a model case along with borderline and contrary cases, and discussing the empirical referents (Walker & Avant, 2005).
Data Sources
A search of electronic databases was conducted using the Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), PsycINFO, PsycARTICLES, Business Source Complete, and Regional Business News. The primary search term used was role transition. The term nurse practitioner was
also included in the search of the databases in order to obtain those articles focusing on role transition for the NP; however, no additional articles were obtained on NP role transition outside of the CINAHL. The search was initially limited to articles published between 2000 and 2012, except for the NP-specific articles, upon which no date limitations were placed. Studies obtained from the electronic databases were limited to English-only, peer-reviewed publications.
Nursing
In the CINAHL, a search of the term role transition without any date limits resulted in 148 articles. Sev- enteen articles were retrieved with adding the search term nurse practitioner. The titles and abstracts of these articles were reviewed, and subsequent ancestry searches of selected reference lists were conducted to obtain additional relevant articles. Twenty-four articles from nursing were included in this analysis. Twelve articles examined NP role transition, seven examined transitions in other nursing roles, and five were transitions-focused theoretical publications. These articles represented the original work that has been conducted on NP role transition and the devel- opment of the concept of transitions in nursing.
Psychology and Business
In contrast to nursing, the psychology and business databases resulted in a large number of articles. A search of PsycINFO using the search term role transition and limiting the search to English-only, peer-reviewed articles published between 2000 and 2012 resulted in 3,256 articles. Forty articles were retrieved from a collective search of PsycARTICLES, Business Source Complete, and Regional Business News using the same parameters. There was great overlap of articles between the two searches.
Approximately 250 titles and abstracts were exam- ined until a sample of 33 articles was obtained. The research on role transitions in these disciplines was broad and diverse, and the majority of the articles were not relevant to the present analysis. Articles focusing on work role transitions that were comparable to NP role transition were reviewed until saturation was reached. From this sample, articles that were found to be irrelevant or not fitting were removed. Additional important articles, which were frequently cited and deemed meaningful to the body of research, were
Nurse Practitioner Role Transition H. Barnes Role Transition: A Concept Analysis DQ
