The practice doctorate approach to assessing advanced nursing practice in Ireland

Aim To describe the practice doctorate scholarly approach to assess advanced nursing practice in Ireland to address healthcare and nursing policy initiatives. Background A global team from Ireland and the United States collaborated with stakeholders, using a practice doctorate approach to identify geographic healthcare needs, the current state of the education and the evolving roles of advanced nursing practice. In Ireland, current policy initiatives call for expanding the capacity for advanced nurse practitioners to meet healthcare needs in community settings. Sources of Evidence Further assessment data were required from stakeholders to inform graduate nursing education to prepare advanced practice nurses to fulfil increasingly complex healthcare needs. The practice doctorate approach included review of literature, current policy and assessment with interviews, dialogue and the development of working relationships with policymakers, academics and practitioners. Discussion The current state and future vision of graduate nursing education are evolving. A force field analysis identified promoting and restraining factors to the desired state of development of the primary care advanced practice role. Relationship building with stakeholders and sharing of expertise was key to engage academia and policymakers to address identified restraining forces. Short‐term outcomes included development of collaborative relationships between practice, academia and policymakers, curricular development for the primary care nurse practitioner and intentionally shared dissemination to promote community graduate nursing education. Implications for Nursing Practice This innovative practice scholarship approach was used to assess and promote advanced nursing practice impact and promote the nursing profession globally. Implications for Policy Successful collaboration between two global partners was achieved to promote policy objectives for both nursing and health care, with the ultimate goal of improving health outcomes and population health.