How does role transition affect the experience of trainee Advanced Clinical Practitioners: Qualitative evidence synthesis

Background Advanced Clinical Practitioners have been developed to address current and future gaps in the medical workforce. Insight into problems associated with Advanced Clinical Practitioner transition may help present and future trainees adapt to their changing and demanding health environment. Aims To identify potential problems experienced by trainee Advanced Clinical Practitioners during transition and what the implications might be for workforce planning. Design A qualitative evidence synthesis to examine the issue of role transition for Advanced Clinical Practitioners. Data sources The electronic databases accessed (1997–2016) were MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, BNI, AMED and PubMed and also included Researchgate, thesis publications, hand searching and NHS staffing reports. Review methods Eleven studies were identified between 1997 ‐ 2016. Thematic synthesis was undertaken, creating codes, descriptive and analytical themes. Quality appraisal of individual studies was conducted using the tool of Walsh and Downe. Findings Six analytical themes were identified that addressed the key issues of transition discussed in the 11 articles and which were directly related to the proposed research project: experience of change, orientation to role, mentorship, clinical skills, clinical supervision and Masters’ level education. Conclusions Findings from all 11 articles were similar. Where these six themes were ignored, there was often either a failure to reach expected goals or resignation from the role. Future employers must ensure that they establish a comprehensive orientation and education programme to be certain that qualified Advanced Clinical Practitioners are suitably prepared for their role in health care.