Creating a successful environment for neonatal nurse practitioners.

Factors that contribute to the neonatal nurse practitioner (NNP) practice environment have emerged from research grounded in the results of a nonexperimental, descriptive, and correlational study that described the role and nursing identity of 258 NNPs. These factors may be used as prescriptions for developing successful NNP environments or to strengthen a current practice. Nursing management has a responsibility to identify factors that enhance nursing identity of NNPs and to plan strategies to operationalize those factors to provide an optimal environment in which NNPs can practice to their fullest potential. Implications are raised for nursing administration and education to address the issues of role differentiation, socialization, and identity of advanced practice nurses in tertiary care.