Advanced Practice Nurses in Swiss Primary Care—A Ph.D. thesis about role perception, role definition, and role implementation.

The Swiss primary care sector is under constant pressure, caused by the shortage of general practitioners and the multimorbid and aging society. This raised the question of how to maintain reasonable, high-quality healthcare in the country. Advanced practice nurses are regarded as one innovative approach to address the challenges that arise in Swiss primary care. The new profession arose around 2000 in Switzerland but is to date predominantly found in inpatient care settings. 
This thesis focuses on the integration of advanced practice nurses/nurse practitioners into Swiss primary care. We implemented three studies that addressed the multi-level subject of role perception, definition, and implementation in primary care settings. In our first study, we focused on exploring the perspective of Swiss Master of Nursing students on primary care as a potential future working place. In our second study, we aimed to develop a uniform job description for advanced practice nurses in Swiss general practitioner practices in collaboration with experts from the practice. In the third study, we examined the acceptability of a nurse practitioner workload measurement tool from interest groups in Canada. 
The objective of this thesis is to facilitate and cultivate a more profound understanding and integration of the role and profession of advanced practice nurses/nurse practitioners in primary care.