I'm an acute care APRN in Connecticut. We entered the hospital scene 20 years ago and now our numbers have exploded. Yet, we never put together a formal "department" or "reporting structure" that would allow a more uniform outline of the role, education, and protected time for research. Does anyone work in a hospital with a structure in place where there is an NP (or mid level person) at the top and a system in place for those things mentioned above?