Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41767791›Full record

ArticleJournal of nursing management2026

Identifying High-Performance Advanced Practice Profile of Specialist Nurses in Mainland China: A Mixed-Methods Sequential Explanatory Study.

Wenjuan Zhao, Jie Zhong, Xiaobin Lai, Quan Cheng, Zheng Zhu, Yuxia Zhang

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of nursing management, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

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Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Wenjuan ZhaoDepartment of Nursing, Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center, Shanghai, China, shca.org.cn.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7051-9399
Jie ZhongSchool of Nursing, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China, hku.hk.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1025-7785
Xiaobin LaiSchool of Nursing, Fudan University, Shanghai, China, fudan.edu.cn.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3074-3385
Quan ChengDepartment of Neurosurgery, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China, csu.edu.cn.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2401-5349
Zheng ZhuSchool of Nursing, Fudan University, Shanghai, China, fudan.edu.cn.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9651-8311
Yuxia ZhangDepartment of Nursing, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China, fudan.edu.cn.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4419-7004

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Objectives: Identifying high-performing advanced practice nursing roles and understanding the factors that contribute to their effectiveness are critical for advancing professional development, optimizing workforce deployment, and ensuring long-term sustainability in nursing. This study aimed to (1) identify distinct latent profiles of advanced practice nursing among specialist nurses in mainland China, (2) quantitatively examine the individual and contextual factors associated with high performance, as characterized by these profiles, and (3) qualitatively confirm the significant factors using explanatory semistructured interviews in the high-performance groups. Methods: A mixed-methods sequential explanatory design was used, in which quantitative data were collected first and subsequently explained through qualitative interviews. Certified specialist nurses from 16 hospitals across urban and rural areas of Shanghai were included. Latent profile analysis (LPA) was conducted using the five domains from the Advanced Practice Role Delineation tool as manifest indicators to classify nurses into distinct performance profiles. Multinomial logistic regression was used to examine potential determinants (e.g., job position) of group membership. Additionally, a backpropagation neural network (BPNN) was developed to rank the importance of contributing factors. Specialist nurses identified as high performers in the quantitative phase were purposively sampled for explanatory semistructured qualitative interviews. Results: Three latent profiles emerged: high performance (26.1%), moderate performance (46.3%), and low performance (27.6%). Compared to APNs, staff nurses had significantly lower odds of belonging to the high-performance group ( Conclusion: Identifying the profiles of advanced practice nursing roles provides valuable insights for optimizing APN performance and informing targeted management and policy strategies. High-performing specialist nurses are positioned at the nexus of individual capability, interdisciplinary collaboration, and institutional support.

Indexed as

Advanced Practice NursingClinical CompetenceAdultChinaFemaleHumansInterviews as TopicMaleMiddle AgedQualitative Researchadvanced practice nursinglatent profile analysismixed-methods design

Identifiers

PMID41767791
PMCPMC12936389

What OpenQuestion holds

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.