Lay summary
In New Zealand, nurse practitioners (NP) were established in 2001. The purpose of the NP role is to improve access to expert healthcare and thereby improving health outcomes. Currently, there are 800 registered NPs working across all areas of healthcare.
Unfortunately, there is an absence of robust data collection about the role, which makes it difficult to evaluate patient or economic outcomes, or plan workforce development.
Our project, Nurse Practitioner Workforce Survey (NPWORKS), aims to address this gap and aims to establish longitudinal insights into the NP role. We will develop a detailed methodology and biannual surveys to collect data, ensuring ongoing relevance, comprehensive analysis and dissemination of findings and sustainability of the data collection. We will engage with stakeholders thereby aligning our research to both policy and practice needs. NPWORKS will shed light on the role of NP in practice and provide much needed evidence about healthcare delivery.