Advanced Practice Registered Nurse Transition to Practice in the Long-Term Care Setting: An Ethnography

Advanced practice registered nurses are successful in improving quality outcomes and filling provider care gaps in long-term care. However, little is known about the nurse’s transition to practice in this setting. A 12-month ethnography was conducted via participant-observation with nine advanced practice registered nurses in five long-term care facilities to understand practice environment influence on the nurses’ transition and on the reciprocal influence of the nurse on the practice environment. Transition was fraught with uncertainty as documented by five themes: where’s my authority, institutional acceptance, personal role fulfillment, provider relationships, and individual versus organizational care. These findings suggest that transition in this setting is complex, characterized by insecurity whether the individual is new to advanced practice or experienced. Transition in long-term care could be strengthened by formal programs that include clinical practice, reconceived mentorship for advanced practice registered nurses, and education designed to improve comfort and expertise with indirect care.