Background: Advanced Practice Nurses (APNs) have become essential to healthcare systems, but the development of research related to APNs has been uneven. Understanding publication trends in this area can provide valuable insights into gaps in the literature and practice.
Objective: This study aimed to analyze the publication patterns of APNs in the field of nursing through bibliometric methods.
Methods: This study is a descriptive bibliometric study. Data were collected from the Web of Science database in January 2024 and analyzed using VOSviewer software.
Results: The search strategy identified 595 publications authored by 1843 researchers across 44 countries and published in 88 different journals spanning 1992 to 2023. Analysis reveals several key trends in APN research: (a) a significant growth in publications, particularly in the past three years; (b) predominant contributions from scholars in a select number of countries; (c) limited collaboration among countries, institutions, and authors; and (d) a focus on key themes such as APN education frameworks and clinical competencies.
Conclusion: The existing body of literature on APN within the nursing field remains limited. Future research should aim to focus on fostering greater international collaboration among researchers and encouraging the adoption of the APN role in developing countries. These efforts could significantly enhance healthcare services and improve patient health outcomes globally.
Keywords: advanced practice nurse; bibliometric analysis; nursing field; visualization analysis; web of science.
© 2025 Wen et al.
