台灣專科護理師(nurse practitioner, NP)角色的發展至今已有20年,多數是在醫院培訓下完成。近幾年在衛生署及醫護領導者共同努力下逐步設立相關法令,使專科護理師制度發展漸漸步入正軌。在國外,專科護理師角色在臨床照護上所展現的獨特效益已被許多研究證實,然而國內外對此角色之培育與專業核心能力的認定上差異頗大,對臨床執業範圍的期待上也不盡相同。筆者身為國內專科護理師高等教育課程的先趨者之一,認為現行專科護理師培訓方式仍有可議之處,尤其在專業核心能力上應多加探討。故本文主旨在介紹專科護理師角色在國內外之發展狀況與專業核心能力,以促進讀者對此角色之了解,希冀能對國內專科護理師訓練制度有所貢獻。
The role of nurse practitioner (NP) has had 20 years of development in Taiwan, with most NPs today being trained in hospitals. The Department of Health, together with leaders from medical and nursing disciplines, has in recent years implemented laws to help ensure that NP system development remains on track. Numerous research studies conducted overseas verify the effectiveness of NP in clinical care and demonstrate that expectations of NP differ from country to country. As a pioneer in advanced NP training in Taiwan's higher education system, I believe the efficacy of NP training programs as currently organized in Taiwan to be equivocal. This is especially so in NP's core competency. This paper introduces the development of NP in Taiwan to provide better insight into the role and contribution of the NP training system to medical care in Taiwan.