Hospital and parish (county) utilization of master's-prepared nurses in Louisiana.

Recent regulation in Louisiana involving advanced practice nursing, combined with new educational standards at the Master's level established by the Louisiana State Board of Nursing, prompted a statewide survey of hospitals and parish health units. The purpose of the survey was to determine whether and to what extent Master's-prepared nurses were being used in Louisiana and to identify the importance placed on role functions and activities generally associated with the advanced practice nurse (APN). The survey included open-ended questions concerning expectations about future hirings and perceptions of future roles and duties of the Master's-prepared nurse as well as suggestions to educators on what is needed to better prepare nursing students at the Master's level. Results from this exploratory survey provide information on APN utilization with implications for nursing educators and administrators as well as APNs.