Working public health nurses envision the country's first public health advanced practice nurse, a cross-sectional, mixed-methods study

Background: The global need for public health advanced practice nurses (APNs) has motivated countries to devise appropriate APN models. Purpose: To further the creation of the public health APN, this study elicits public health nurses’ (PHNs) perspectives on APN roles and models, comparing results by PHNs’ levels of motivation and job satisfaction. Methods: Using a cross-sectional, mixed-methods design, an online announcement recruited PHNs (n = 142) across the nation. Cluster analysis, using levels of job satisfaction and motivation reported from questionnaires, enabled categorization of PHNs into three groups. Discussion: Since public health differs from other types of nursing practice, obtaining PHNs’ insights, particularly those from job-satisfied and motivated PHNs, is instrumental for the creation of the country's first public health APN. Conclusion: PHNs' input needs to inform public health APN models, since internationationally, most public health APN models assist with the physician shortage rather than target health promotion and disease prevention.