Nigeria’s critical health care needs and shortage of physicians have led to the independent practice of experienced registered nurses (RNs). These nurses practice without having studied a curriculum specifically geared toward this advanced level, which is not optimal for health outcomes. However, given that Nigeria has not adopted an official advanced practice nurse (APN) role, such training is currently not available.
APNs could provide a skilled, competent choice for Nigerian primary care, but the views of stakeholders like Nigerian physicians may impact official adoption of this role. This paper describes a sample of 12 physicians’ knowledge and attitudes toward the possibility for advanced practice nursing in Nigeria.
The study design was descriptive and qualitative, including a demographic survey and in-depth interviews. Data were analyzed using qualitative content analysis. Krippendorff’s thematic clustering technique was used to identify five inter-related themes: Nigeria Today and Tactics for Tomorrow, Critical Time for Nursing in Nigeria, Preserving the Hierarchy of Health care, Pervasive Fear, and Optimism: Hope for the Future. This study demonstrated that although several potential problems and current issues must be addressed before implementation of an advanced practice nurse role, it could very well be a positive and welcome change supported by physicians in Nigeria.
","abstract_html":"<p>Nigeria’s critical health care needs and shortage of physicians have led to the independent practice of experienced registered nurses (RNs). These nurses practice without having studied a curriculum specifically geared toward this advanced level, which is not optimal for health outcomes. However, given that Nigeria has not adopted an official advanced practice nurse (APN) role, such training is currently not available.</p> <p>APNs could provide a skilled, competent choice for Nigerian primary care, but the views of stakeholders like Nigerian physicians may impact official adoption of this role. This paper describes a sample of 12 physicians’ knowledge and attitudes toward the possibility for advanced practice nursing in Nigeria.</p> <p>The study design was descriptive and qualitative, including a demographic survey and in-depth interviews. Data were analyzed using qualitative content analysis. Krippendorff’s thematic clustering technique was used to identify five inter-related themes: Nigeria Today and Tactics for Tomorrow, Critical Time for Nursing in Nigeria, Preserving the Hierarchy of Health care, Pervasive Fear, and Optimism: Hope for the Future. This study demonstrated that although several potential problems and current issues must be addressed before implementation of an advanced practice nurse role, it could very well be a positive and welcome change supported by physicians in Nigeria.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Adjapon-Yamoah, Gabriella Tayo"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Science in Nursing (MSN)","degree_level":"Open Access Thesis","degree_discipline":"Yale University School of Nursing","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Linda Honan"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2015,"date_issued":"2015-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2015-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T06:16:00Z","subjects":["Advanced Practice Nursing","Krippendorff","Nigeria","Nurse Clinicians","Physicians"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://elischolar.library.yale.edu/ysndt/1021","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Linda Honan"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Adjapon-Yamoah, Gabriella Tayo"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Yale University School of Nursing"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Open Access Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Science in Nursing (MSN)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Advanced Practice Nursing","Krippendorff","Nigeria","Nurse Clinicians","Physicians"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://elischolar.library.yale.edu/ysndt/1021"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Nigeria’s critical health care needs and shortage of physicians have led to the independent practice of experienced registered nurses (RNs). These nurses practice without having studied a curriculum specifically geared toward this advanced level, which is not optimal for health outcomes. However, given that Nigeria has not adopted an official advanced practice nurse (APN) role, such training is currently not available.
APNs could provide a skilled, competent choice for Nigerian primary care, but the views of stakeholders like Nigerian physicians may impact official adoption of this role. This paper describes a sample of 12 physicians’ knowledge and attitudes toward the possibility for advanced practice nursing in Nigeria.
The study design was descriptive and qualitative, including a demographic survey and in-depth interviews. Data were analyzed using qualitative content analysis. Krippendorff’s thematic clustering technique was used to identify five inter-related themes: Nigeria Today and Tactics for Tomorrow, Critical Time for Nursing in Nigeria, Preserving the Hierarchy of Health care, Pervasive Fear, and Optimism: Hope for the Future. This study demonstrated that although several potential problems and current issues must be addressed before implementation of an advanced practice nurse role, it could very well be a positive and welcome change supported by physicians in Nigeria.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Possibilities For Advanced Practice Nursing Through The Eyes Of Physicians: A Descriptive Qualitative Study In Enugu State, Nigeria"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Linda Honan"],"dc:creator":["Adjapon-Yamoah, Gabriella Tayo"],"dc:description.abstract":["Nigeria’s critical health care needs and shortage of physicians have led to the independent practice of experienced registered nurses (RNs). These nurses practice without having studied a curriculum specifically geared toward this advanced level, which is not optimal for health outcomes. However, given that Nigeria has not adopted an official advanced practice nurse (APN) role, such training is currently not available.
APNs could provide a skilled, competent choice for Nigerian primary care, but the views of stakeholders like Nigerian physicians may impact official adoption of this role. This paper describes a sample of 12 physicians’ knowledge and attitudes toward the possibility for advanced practice nursing in Nigeria.
The study design was descriptive and qualitative, including a demographic survey and in-depth interviews. Data were analyzed using qualitative content analysis. Krippendorff’s thematic clustering technique was used to identify five inter-related themes: Nigeria Today and Tactics for Tomorrow, Critical Time for Nursing in Nigeria, Preserving the Hierarchy of Health care, Pervasive Fear, and Optimism: Hope for the Future. This study demonstrated that although several potential problems and current issues must be addressed before implementation of an advanced practice nurse role, it could very well be a positive and welcome change supported by physicians in Nigeria.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://elischolar.library.yale.edu/ysndt/1021"],"dc:subject":["Advanced Practice Nursing","Krippendorff","Nigeria","Nurse Clinicians","Physicians"],"dc:title":["Possibilities For Advanced Practice Nursing Through The Eyes Of Physicians: A Descriptive Qualitative Study In Enugu State, Nigeria"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Yale University School of Nursing"],"thesis:degree_level":["Open Access Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Science in Nursing (MSN)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T06:16:00Z"}