While there appears to be national recognition for the role, nurse practitioners report being undervalued and under-resourced. Clare Harvey and colleagues report on a study showing the vital contribution they make to improving population health

The nurse practitioner (NP) position has not been embraced as eagerly as other new health practitioner roles in New Zealand (NZ), and there is little research about the role in the country. A study was carried out to find out more about the contribution NPs are making to primary health care, regardless of healthcare setting. Using a mixed-methods approach, the study mapped the contributions of NPs against indicators from a results-based model for primary health care developed by Watson et al (2009). The findings demonstrate that NPs are essential to maintaining the population’s health in a cost-constrained healthcare environment and highlight the need for national policymakers and local decision makers to give the role a higher profile and to provide more resources and support.