The personal and professional impacts of becoming and being a professional nurse advocate.

Abstract

Background: The professional nurse advocate (PNA) is a relatively new employer-led role, designed to deploy the A-EQUIP (Advocating and Educating for QUality ImProvement) model of professional nursing leadership and restorative clinical supervision.

Aim: This article describes the self-perceived personal and professional impacts of becoming and being a PNA.

Methods: A secondary qualitative analysis of interview-derived data from qualified PNAs.

Findings: A total of 183 codes were developed from the data. These were grouped to form 19 categories, of which the majority characterised positive impacts of being a PNA. Participants described a wide range of personal and professional benefits, together with accounts of conflicts, insecurities, emotional encounters and communication challenges in the role.

Conclusion: The study findings strengthen the case for organisational use of A-EQUIP in the workplace and help to showcase the significant contribution of the PNA role to staff wellbeing, education and quality improvements in care.