...Dr Melanie Rogers said:
Advanced Practice continues to develop exponentially in the United Kingdom. It is common for Advanced Practitioners to be working in all areas of clinical practice. They play critical roles in delivering holistic patient-centred care through their ability to make autonomous clinical decisions. Advanced Practitioners are trained to have expertise in clinical practice, leadership, education and research. They often assess, diagnose and manage problems historically managed by doctors.
Their role ensures high quality, timely, holistic care is provided to patients and demands resilience to manage the complexities and challenges that autonomous practitioners face. Advanced Practitioners manage demanding workloads, make clinical decisions related to complex presentations and have to manage the emotional impact of their work which often places them under chronic stress.
Studies have shown that teamwork and supportive working environments help Advanced Practitioners to flourish and maintain their wellbeing. Unfortunately, many Advanced Practitioners work in areas that lack organisational support and find the demands of their roles are not recognised leading to illness, reduced job satisfaction and absenteeism. Employers and organisations need to be cognisant of the Advanced Practitioner role and the demands they face. They should prioritise wellbeing, provide professional and personal development opportunities and consider supportive supervision for example Resilience-based Clinical Supervision.