Conceptualization of the ACNP role. the conceptual framework that was used to guide this study was developed by Sidani and Irvine (1999) and patterned after Donabedian’s (1988) structure-process-outcome model of care.
this framework represents the complex system of interrelated factors that are known to influence ACNP role effectiveness.
Two components of the model are hypothesized to influence the quality of patient care and cost outcomes. the first,the structure component, includes the patient, the ACNP and organizational variables. the second is the process component,which consists of ACNP role components and role enactment. these components informed the design of this study and were particularly useful for selecting measures to evaluate the ACNP role in a postoperative cardiac surgery setting.