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Aim: Identify and map international evidence regarding innovations led by or involving advanced practice nurses in response to COVID‐19. Background: COVID‐19 necessitated unprecedented innovation in the organization and delivery of healthcare. Although advanced practice nurses have played a pivotal role during the pandemic, evidence of their contributions to innovations has not been synthesized. Evidence is needed to inform policies, practices, and research about the optimal use of advanced practice nurses. Methods: A scoping review was conducted and reported using the PRISMA‐ScR checklist. Electronic databases were searched for peer‐reviewed articles published between January 2020 and December 2021. Papers were included that focused on innovations emerging in response to COVID‐19 and involved advanced practice nurses. Results: Fifty‐one articles were included. Four themes were identified including telehealth, supporting and transforming care, multifaceted approaches, and provider education. Half of the articles used brief and mostly noncomparative approaches to evaluate innovations. Conclusion: This is the first synthesis of international evidence examining the contributions of advanced practice nurses during the pandemic. Advanced practice nurses provided leadership for the innovation needed to rapidly respond to healthcare needs resulting from COVID‐19. Innovations challenged legislative restrictions on practice, enabled implementation of telehealth and new models of care, and promoted evidence‐informed and patient‐centered care. Implications for practice: Advanced practice nurses led, designed, implemented, and evaluated innovations in response to COVID‐19. They facilitated the use of telehealth, supported or transformed models of care, and enabled health providers through education, mentorship, and mental health support. Implication for policy: Advanced practice nurses are a critical resource for innovation and health system improvement. Permanent removal of legislative and regulatory barriers to their full scope of practice is needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: This paper discusses four main strategies for addressing nursing shortages that have been persistent, widespread and growing. Fallout from the COVID‐19 pandemic might offer valuable impetus to address this tenacious challenge. Background: Nursing shortages are common, widespread and have been persistent for most of a century. Many of the reasons behind these shortages are well known and are themselves enduring, as are the types of strategies put forward for addressing them. These strategies can generally be classified into four main categories: enhancing retention, improving recruitment, encouraging return to practice and drawing on international human resources. The COVID‐19 pandemic is the latest major threat to ensuring a sufficiently sized and skilled nursing workforce. Many nurses have succumbed to burnout as well the plethora of factors that predated the pandemic and have a negative impact on nurse wellbeing, turnover and intention to leave. Sources of evidence: This discussion paper draws on international sources of evidence. Discussion/conclusion: This paper highlights how many of the factors behind and strategies for addressing nursing shortages at the local, national and global levels are widely studied and known. A sustained combination of strategies that focus both within and beyond health and nursing, including on the broader social context, is necessary. While COVID‐19 has been extremely damaging, it might present an opportunity to make sustainable, effective reforms to address nursing shortages. Implications for policy: Knowledge users must recognise that a combination of approaches across the gamut of policies that influence nursing workforces is necessary to address nursing shortages. Attention must also focus on factors beyond nursing and healthcare if shortages are to be remedied. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]