An Ethnography of Clinical Decision-Making by ANPs on AMAUs (1)
Research type
Research Study
Full title
An Ethnography of Clinical Decision-Making by Advanced Nurse Practitioners on Acute Medical Admission Units
IRAS ID
199218
Contact name
James Barnard
Contact email
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
SCJ Code 14035407/4, Secretary and Registrar's Directorate
Duration of Study in the UK
3 years, 0 months, 3 days
Research summary
The aim of this ethnographical study is to identify and explore the factors and influences that affect Advanced Nurse Practitioner (ANP) clinical decision-making behaviours and identify the perceived limitations of their clinical decision-making authority when caring for acute patients on an Acute Medical Admission Unit (AMAUs).
Acute medicine has developed over the last decade in response to the increasing number of medical admissions and concerns over the quality of acute care. AMAUs have now been established in many National Health Service (NHS) hospitals leading to a redesign of the way acute medical care is delivered. Multidisciplinary staff groups are progressively evolving to accommodate the needs of acute medical patients despite the lack of national guidance and resource investment to support these changes. Any investment in ANPs has been independently resourced as a dynamic approach to ensure that care outcome measures are addressed.
In spite of extensive literature in other acute settings identifying what the role of ANPs should be, what ANPs are able to do and what desirable characteristics are required, there is a dearth of evidence describing what clinical decisions ANPs make, what factors and influences are associated with these clinical decisions and what are the perceived limitations to their authority in the context of acute patient care and AMAUs.
Data will be gathered through varying levels of observation from unobtrusive to participant while on the AMAUs (3-4 regional sites) during ANP clinical encounters with patients and during the following semi-structured informal interviews. The later structured formal interviews will occur away from the clinical environment. Thematic data analysis focuses on the identification of conceptual categories derived from the data via the constant comparative method.
It is anticipated that this research will take three years to complete.
REC name
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REC reference
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