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Can nurse practitioners fill the gaps in overstretched hospitals?

NCT ID NCT05520203

NEW Knowledge-focused Sponsor: University Hospital, Ghent Source: ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

What the study statuses mean

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Recruitment status, easiest to join first

Recruiting now
This trial is taking on new participants right now.
Not yet recruiting
Registered, but not yet taking participants.
By invitation only
Not open to general applications. Only people the study team invites can take part.
Paused
Paused for now. It may or may not start again.
Ongoing
Running, but no longer taking on new participants.
Completed This study
The trial has finished. Results may not be published yet.
Stopped early
Stopped early, before it reached the end. That can be for many reasons, including safety.
Cancelled
Cancelled before anyone took part.

Expanded access (not trials)

Expanded access
Not a trial. This treatment can be requested outside a study, case by case, for people who qualify.
Expanded access (paused)
Not a trial. The treatment can normally be requested outside a study, but is unavailable right now.
Expanded access (ended)
Not a trial. The treatment could once be requested outside a study, but no longer can.
Approved
The treatment has been approved, so it is available normally rather than through this programme.

When the status isn't known

Details not published
The full record has not been published yet, so there is little to show here.
Status unknown
This status has not been confirmed recently, so it may be out of date.

First seen Sep 21, 2026 · Last updated Sep 21, 2026

Summary

Hospitals face rising numbers of patients with chronic and complex conditions, and care teams are stretched thin. Researchers at a Belgian university hospital are studying what happens when nurse practitioners join four departments, including digestive surgery, liver cirrhosis care, and pediatric epilepsy. They will track patient satisfaction, hospital admissions, and length of stay before and after the roles are introduced. The goal is to learn how nurse practitioners can be integrated into Belgian hospitals and what difference they make.

What this could mean

Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only, not medical advice or a prediction.

Active substance
Care provided by a nurse practitioner added to the hospital care team
What this could lead to
If the nurse practitioner role works well, Belgian hospitals could adopt similar roles nationwide to ease heavy workloads and improve patient care.
What could go wrong
This is an early-stage study in one hospital, so results may not apply elsewhere. Patient satisfaction surveys capture experiences, not hard medical outcomes, and the role's impact could be modest.

This is an AI summary of the original study and may miss details. Read our disclaimer.

Study facts

What this study's own registry entry says, in plain language.

Participants

1,000 people

The number who actually took part.

Started

May 2021

Finished

Mar 2024

Lead sponsor

Other sponsor

The registry's catch-all category, for sponsors it does not file as a company, a government agency, or a research network.

Who can take part

This study's own entry requirements. Only the study team can say for certain whether you qualify.

Who is studied

Patients \- Patients (or their parents in the paediatric department) HCPs * Representatives of all relevant stakeholders (from each department) will be invited to participate (eg. head(s) of the medical department(s), physicians, physicians in training, (head) nurses, care managers, the chief medical officer, specialised nurses, social worker, pharmacist). * All HCPs who are currently involved in the care process of the targeted patient population.

Ages

Children (under 18), adults (18 to 64) and older adults (65 and over)

Sex

Anyone

Healthy volunteers

Accepted

You do not need to have the condition being studied to take part.

Show the full entry requirements

Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.

Patients/parents Inclusion Criteria: * Admitted on the participating ward (digestive surgery) or diagnosed stable liver cirrhosis or pediatric epilepsy * Be conscious * Speak Dutch Exclusion Criteria: \- Dementia or other severe cognitive/mental disorders Health care providers Inclusion Criteria: * Have at least three months of clinical experience on the ward * Key stakeholders in the process of development, implementation and/or evaluation Exclusion Criteria: * No contact with the nurse practitioner * Internship

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Conditions

The condition(s) this trial relates to.

cirrhosis of liver

As listed by the trial registrant

The condition terms exactly as the trial's registrant entered them.

Implementation research Nurse practitioners Quality of care

Contacts and locations

Locations

  • Ghent University Hospital

    Ghent, East Flanders, 9000, Belgium

  • University Hospital Ghent

    Ghent, 9000, Belgium

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