Building Advanced Practice Nursing in Swiss community care: key messages from a national symposium

Summary

Advanced Practice Nursing is emerging as one of Switzerland’s most promising levers to keep community care accessible and coordinated despite physician shortages, rising multimorbidity and an ageing population. While international evidence supports the contribution of Advanced Practice Nurses to access, continuity and quality of care, their integration within the Swiss healthcare system remains heterogeneous. In this context, the symposium “Advanced Practice Nursing: Building future care by integrating Advanced Practice Nursing into community settings” was held in December 2025 and organised by Unisanté and the Institute of Higher Education and Research in Healthcare (IUFRS) of Lausanne University, in partnership with Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV), the Institute of Nursing Science (Institut für Pflegewissenschaft) of the University of Basel, the University of Applied Sciences and Arts Western Switzerland (HES-SO), the Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+) and the Swiss Academy of Medical Sciences (SAMW/ASSM).