Abstract: Objective: To investigate the job setting of specialty nurses and the status of advanced nursing practice in Xinjiang, and provide basis for the training and use of specialist nurses. Methods: Nursing departments and 780 specialty nurses from 4 of the tertiary grade A hospitals in Urumqi and Shihezi in Xinjiang were investigated by questionnaires. Results: There were 10 specialty nurse positions and 3 specialist outpatient clinics in the four hospitals. The educational qualifications for these positions were junior college or above. The top three dimensions of advanced nursing practice were the contingency (3.27±0.82), the clinical nursing (3.26±0.78), and the clinical judgment (3.11±0.69). The specialty nurses with different educational levels had different advanced nursing practice except the clinical nursing and systematic thinking dimension (P<0.05). There was a statistically significant difference in the clinical judgment and collaboration dimension between the nurses with different professional titles and working years (P<0.05). The specialty nurses with different job titles scored different points in the clinical inquiry dimension (P<0.05). Conclusion: Specialty nurse positions had been set up in various hospitals in Xinjiang, but there was lack of standard for setting these positions. The directly clinical practice ability in advanced nursing practice was rather good, but the clinical inquiry and evidence-based nursing practice ability were weak. There were differences in the advanced nursing practice among specialty nurses with different educational levels, professional titles, and working years. All of these conditions may restrict the development of advanced nursing practice.

Key words: survey; specialty nurse; post setting; advanced nursing practice; influencing factors