title: Dancing to our own tune: understandings of advanced nursing practice in British Columbia.
abstract: There has been ongoing confusion about the meaning of advanced nursing practice (ANP) and the nature of ANP roles in Canada and elsewhere. A broad range of roles and titles have been adopted throughout Canada in an attempt to delineate specialized and/or advanced roles within nursing. One key objective in a recent three-phase study of ANP in British Columbia was to clarify the role and understanding of advanced nursing practice and related roles within the larger healthcare system. Our intent in this paper is to describe the understandings of ANP that emerged in Phase I of this recent study and to compare registered nurses' understandings of ANP to the characteristics and competencies identified by the Canadian Nurses Association (2002) framework. (Note: The term "nurse," as used in this paper, refers to "registered nurse.") We conclude by identifying future directions for development of advanced practice roles.
authors.affiliation: School of Nursing, University of Victoria, BC. bpauly@uvic.ca
authors.forename: Bernadette
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Pauly
authors.forename: Rita
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Schreiber
authors.forename: Marjorie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: MacDonald
authors.forename: Heather
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Davidson
authors.forename: Jane
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Crickmore
authors.forename: Lesley
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Moss
authors.forename: Janet
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Pinelli
authors.forename: Sandra
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Regan
authors.forename: Carolyn
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hammond
mesh_terms: D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D001955:British Columbia; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D016294:Models, Nursing; D020380:Needs Assessment; D009720:Nurse Clinicians / Q000193:education / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000523:psychology; D009722:Nurse Practitioners / Q000193:education / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000523:psychology; D024802:Nurse's Role; D015403:Nursing Evaluation Research; D015404:Nursing Methodology Research; D036301:Qualitative Research; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires