[How do Advanced Practice Nurses participate in building health policy projects?]

Introduction: Patients' needs and the change of health professionals' roles have led researchers to reflect about the involvement of nurses in care processes development, as well as health policies. Studies confirm how advanced nursing training promotes quality of care and reduces the costs of healthcare. The introduction of the Advanced Practice Nurses (APNs) could potentially be an added value also in the Swiss healthcare context, where this figure is positioning. The study aims to investigate how APNs can participate in building health policy projects.

Method: This is a qualitative study. Four focus groups were conducted on nurses with managerial and clinical roles. A content analysis approach with three review phases was applied.

Results: The identified macro-themes are: APN: Advanced training provides the skills needed to exercise the role. However, it emerges that the recognition of nurses in the field of health policies originates from a cultural change. Interprofessional collaboration: Multidisciplinary work allows overall patient care. However, requests for advice from the APN is still marginal. Health policy: The emerged needs are: defining a target population, educating the population and encouraging organizations to obtain quality certifications. Proposals for improvement: adequate training and the involvement of specialized figures are required for suitable care.

Conclusions: APNs have potential impact upon health policy discussions. The authors recommend investing on education and cultural change, in order to maximize the active involvement in discussions supporting progress in nursing practice.