Abstract: Objective: To explore the influence of full-time posts setting on the practice performance of specialist nurses. Methods: A total of 612 specialist nurses from 16 hospitals in Shanghai were included in this survey. The Propensity Score Matching (PSM) was applied to control the confounding factors. The influence of different posts setting on the practice performance of specialist nurses was explored. Results: The proportion of specialist nurses with full-time posts was 9.5%. The specialist nurses were distributed mainly in tertiary hospitals, general hospitals, internal medicine, surgery and intensive care units. The specialist nurses with full-time posts were significantly older and had longer working years and higher proportion of nurse-in-charge titles than those with part-time posts (P<0.05). There was no significant difference in the practice performance of clinical practice and coordination ability between the specialist nurses with full-time posts and those with part-time posts (P>0.05). The practice performance of the specialist nurses with full-time posts were significantly higher in systems optimization, education, research and leadership than that of the specialist nurses with part-time posts (P<0.05). Conclusion: The proportion of specialist nurses with full-time posts in Shanghai is relatively small. They are mainly distributed in tertiary general hospitals, and work in the departments of internal medicine, surgery and intensive care units. The specialist nurses with more work experiences and higher professional titles are easier to get full-time posts than the others. The establishment of full-time posts can help specialist nurses to improve their practice performance in nursing.

Key words: specialist nurses; full-time posts; practice performance; Propensity Score Matching