Perceptions of the effectiveness of Advanced Practice Nurses on a neurosurgery unit in a Canadian Tertiary Care Centre: A pre-and-post implementation design.

Objectives: A framework for the advanced practice nurse (APN) role was developed in our Canadian Tertiary Care Centre, delineating five domains of advanced nursing practice: clinical practice, consultation, research, education and leadership. The goal of this study was to evaluate perceptions of the effectiveness of the implementation of an innovative APN role on an in-patient Neurosurgery unit.

Methods: A pre-and-post implementation design, incorporating both qualitative and quantitative data, was utilized.