Curricula and learning objectives in nurse practitioner programmes: a scoping review protocol

What is it about?

ABSTRACT
Introduction: Globally, nurse practitioners have become an important nursing role in the pursuit of a more efficient healthcare, possessing the necessary expert skills to work as autonomous practitioners. Nevertheless, there are barriers in the implementation of this role. One barrier concerns the different levels of education required for nurse practitioners. Previous studies demonstrate the importance of acting for a uniform international education. The aim of the scoping review is to compile research about education to become a nurse practitioner, focusing on the content of curricula and learning objectives. 
Methods and analysis: The six-stage methodological framework by Arksey and O’Malley will guide the scoping review through the following stages: Identifying the research questions, identifying relevant studies, study selection, charting the data, collating, summarizing and reporting the results and consultations. The research questions are: What is the content of curricula in nurse practitioner programmes? What are the learning objectives in nurse practitioner programmes? The literature searches will be conducted between March and June 2019 in the following databases: PubMed, CINAHL and ERIC followed by hand searching reference lists of key studies. Grey literature will be searched in Google Scholar, Libsearch, existing networks and relevant organisations. Two researchers will screen titles and abstracts. Included full-text articles will be screened by three researchers and assessed for their methodological quality by use of the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme. The PRISMA flow diagram will be used to demonstrate included and excluded articles. The findings will be presented through a numerical summary of the included articles, followed by a thematic analysis.
Ethics and dissemination: No ethics approval is required for a scoping review as no primary data will be collected. The findings will be disseminated to stakeholders responsible for healthcare and education, at relevant conferences and by submission to a peer-reviewed journal. 


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