Wood, E. orcid.org/0000-0002-1910-6230, King, R., Robertson, S. et al. (4 more authors) (2024) Advanced nurse practitioner well-being: A 4- year cohort mixed methods study. Nursing Open, 11 (7). ISSN 2054-1058
Abstract
Aims: To examine changes in advanced nurse practitioner (ANP) well-being, satisfaction and motivation over a four-year period.
Design: Longitudinal Cohort study.
Methods: Surveys were carried out each year from 2019 to 2022 with the same cohort of ANPs in the United Kingdom (UK). The survey consisted of demographics, questions on contemporary issues in advanced practice, National Health Service (NHS) staff survey questions and validated questionnaires. A core set of questions were asked every year with some changes in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Results: Response rate ranged from 40% to 59% and appeared to be affected by COVID-19. Staff satisfaction with pay and the well-being score were stable throughout. Other questions on well-being, job satisfaction and motivation saw statistically significant reductions after 4 years. Open-ended questions about ongoing well-being concerns show participants are concerned about exhaustion levels caused by workload, staffing issues, abuse from patients and colleagues' mental health.
Conclusion: The findings highlight a decline in ANP well-being, job satisfaction and motivation post-COVID-19. Reasons for this, explored in the qualitative data, show that ANPs have faced extremely difficult working conditions. Urgent action is required to prevent a workforce retention crisis as many nursing staff are close to retirement and may not be motivated to remain in post.
Impact: This study has followed ANPs through the most challenging years the NHS has ever seen. Job satisfaction, motivation and enjoyment of the job all significantly reduced over time. In many areas, the ANP role has been used to fill medical workforce gaps, and this will become harder to do if ANPs are dissatisfied, disaffected and struggling with stress and burnout. Addressing these issues should be a priority for policymakers and managers.
Patient or public contribution: None as this study focussed on staff. Staff stakeholders involved in the design and conduct of the study.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
---|---|
Authors/Creators: |
|
Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2024 The Author(s). Nursing Open published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited and is not used for commercial purposes. |
Keywords: | advanced nurse practitioner; ANP; COVID-19; nursing; stress; well-being |
Dates: |
|
Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health (Sheffield) > School of Medicine and Population Health |
Funding Information: | Funder Grant number ROYAL COLLEGE OF NURSING NONE |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 01 Jul 2024 10:24 |
Last Modified: | 01 Jul 2024 10:24 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Wiley |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1002/nop2.2218 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:214148 |