Developing a theory to guide nurse practitioners to accomplish [a] training programme: A grounded theory study

Background: Due to the lack of resident physicians in medical institutions, nurse practitioners must assist in clinical care. However, the quality of training courses in training hospitals is varied and, currently, there is no theory to guide nurse practitioners to complete training. Objectives: To develop a theory to guide nurse practitioners to accomplish training programme. Design: This study adopted a qualitative grounded theory approach. Settings: A regional teaching hospital in Taiwan. Participants: Seventeen nurse practitioners, who had passed the oral test within the past six months, were recruited until data saturation was achieved. Methods: Data were collected using a semi-structured interview and data were collected between January 2018 and March 2019. Data were analysed using open, axial, and selective coding and using NVivo 11 to aid the process of coding. Results: A substantive theory was formulated to help nurse practitioners complete their training programme. The core category was ?professional ability to improve nursing quality and excel?. Other important categories and subcategories were ?improving thinking ability? (improving critical thinking ability and differential diagnosis), ?improving clinical care ability? (improving clinical assessment and overall communication skills), and ?active learning? (multi-method learning, repeated practice, and self-improvement). Conclusions: The findings will facilitate the provision of guidance to nurse practitioner trainees in medical institutions. This will help them successfully complete their training, improve the passing rate for nurse practitioner selection, reduce the wastage of workforce training resources, and improve the quality of care that nurse practitioners provide. Hospitals could use this theory as a reference and create a warm and supportive training environment to help nurse practitioners complete their training programme and improve care quality.