Between two roles Experiences of newly trained nurse practitioners in surgical care in Sweden: A qualitative study using repeated interviews

The position of Nurse Practitioner is a new role in Nordic countries. The transition from a registered nurse to the Nurse Practitioner role has been reported to be a personal challenge. This study, guided by the Nordic theoretical model for use in the education of advanced practice nurses, represents a unique opportunity to describe this transition for newly graduated Nurse Practitioners in an interprofessional surgical care team in Sweden. The aim was to explore how the first Nurse Practitioners in surgical care experienced the transition into a new role and what competences they used in the team. Eight new Nurse Practitioners with parallel work in clinical practice were interviewed twice around the time of their graduation. The qualitative analyses show that the participants integrated several central competences, but the focus in this early stage in their new role was on direct clinical praxis, consultation, cooperation, case management, and coaching. Transition from the role of clinical nurse specialist to nurse practitioner was a challenging process in which the positive response from patients was a driving force for the new Nurse Practitioners. The participants felt prepared for and determined to solve the challenging situations they approached working in the interprofessional team. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.