A Growing Presence

To examine the development of advanced nursing practice globally. Data were collected from documentary resources available in the International Nurse Practitioners/Advanced Practice Nurse Network (INP/APNN) of the International Council of Nurses. The areas examined were guided by the "key informant survey on advanced nursing practice self-administered questionnaire." Two core members of the INP/APNN who have rich experience in global advanced nursing development analyzed the data.A total of 14 countries and three regions from five continents were included in the analyses. The development of advanced nursing practice in these areas is facilitated by a need for better access to care in a cost-containment era and the enhancement of nursing education to postgraduate level. The mechanism for regulation of practice is in place in some countries. Confirms the development of advanced practice in nursing is a global trend. APNs can improve global health with points to enhanced education in nursing and regulation of advanced practice.

To describe international trends on the developing role of the nurse practitioner-advanced practice nurse (NP-APN), including nomenclature, levels and types of NP-APN education, practice settings, scope of practice, regulatory policies, and political environment.

To address the gap in evidence-based information required to support the development of advanced practice nursing (APN) roles in Switzerland, stakeholders identified the need for guidance to generate strategic evaluation data. This article describes an evaluation framework developed to inform decisions about the effective utilization of APN roles across the country.