Learning Objective #1: situate the international development of Nurse Practitioners.

Learning Objective #2: describe the importance of consistent approaches to implementation and analysis for rigorous multi site research.

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While international recognition of the role of Nurse Practitioners has been documented since the 1960’s, the role has never been implemented in the Australian aged care residential sector. Benefits identified in the international literature suggest the role can add significant value to the Australian Residential Care sector. The Joanna Briggs Institute coordinated the conduct of a national trial of nurse practitioner services in residential aged care, funded by the Australian Commonwealth Department of Health and Ageing. The trial involved 5 phases over 24 months.

The 5 phases sought to identify and establish appropriate candidates for the nurse practitioner positions, develop agreed clinical guidelines, implementation of the service nationally – including development and implementation of a minimum data set, continuous evaluation, the implementation and development of recommendations for modelling the service beyond the duration of the trial. These phases will be briefly outlined.

Analysis of the results focused on outcomes from implementation process, the views of older adults, the community, provider agencies, and the health care workforce. Consumer and stakeholder views were sought on the quality of the service, perceived feasibility of the role, accessibility and appropriateness of the nurse practitioner service; outcomes such as experience, satisfaction and quality of life, symptom relief, complication rates, educational value, and impact on acute care health service utilisation rates were also considered, and will be reported on.

This presentation will report on the methods, and outcomes of the focus groups, surveys, analysis of the minimum data set, stakeholder questionaries, and economic evaluation. As this presentation will report, outcomes have been promising, and the issues identified through the minimum data set provide a clear indication of how the evaluation can be used to inform further development of the nurse practitioner model in residential care service provision.