The clinical pillar above all others: trainee advanced clinical practitioners' perceptions of the four pillars

Background: Challenges persist for advanced clinical practitioners (ACPs) because of the broad vision for the role and its application within the context of professional identity. ACPs must be competent and credible across all four pillars of advanced practice to deliver its recognised standard of care. Aim: This article explores the perceptions of trainee advanced clinical practitioners (tACPs) and what they view as the most and least important pillars of advanced practice, their reasoning for this opinion and the qualities they believe that ACPs should possess. Methods: The researchers used a mixed-methods approach with questionnaires from 29 participants. Results: Participants believed that the clinical pillar was the most important and that the other three were less important because of the requirement to be clinically competent. Conclusions: Participants identified barriers that prevented them from fulfilling all four pillars of the ACP role during their trainee positions.