May L. Wykle, PhD, RN, FAAN, FGSA Dean and Florence Cellar Professor Click to edit Master title style Click to edit Master subtitle style Advanced Nurse

May L. Wykle, PhD, RN, FAAN, FGSADean and Florence Cellar Professor

Click to edit Master title style

Click to edit Master subtitle style

Advanced Nurse Practitioner Education in the U.S.:

Historical Perspectives, Current Status, and Future Trends

Oita University of Nursing and Health Sciences: October 30, 2008

Elizabeth Madigan, PhD, RN, FAANElizabeth Madigan, PhD, RN, FAANAssociate ProfessorAssociate Professor




History of NPs in the U.S.

In the 1960s, there were two simultaneous developments that promoted the role of the NP:• A shortage of physicians in

primary care (increase in the number of specialist physicians), particularly in rural and poor areas• Development of payment

systems for the poor and elderly




Confusion Regarding Titles

• The development of the NP role was not federally managed leading to many certification bodies (11 at one time) and confusion over titles and educational credentials• At first NPs were educated in certificate programs (post-

basic RN training)

• In 1993, the American College of Nurse Practitioners was created and became a single, more unifying voice for NPs




Evidence on NP Outcomes

• Much resistance by physician groups regarding development of the role—concern over NPs being “safe” and “effective”• Also prestigious nurses thought the NP role

lost the “nursing” element: mini-doctors• Several important research studies

published in prestigious journals (Journal of the American Medical Association and New England Journal of Medicine) with interdisciplinary researchers showed the patient outcomes of patients cared for by NPs were as good and sometimes better than patients cared for by physicians




Effective Lobbying

•Many groups, led by the ACNP, effectively lobbied at the state and federal levels for recognition of independent provider status• Took > 20 years (from 1965 to early 1990s) for NPs

to gain independent provider status• Still some areas where NPs cannot prescribe (i.e.

home health care)




Continuous Lobbying

• Continuous lobbying and policy work is necessary as there is continued physician pressure to reduce the role of the NP• Requires policy savvy NPs on federal boards,

oversight committees, working with political leaders and other areas to continue the fight for NP independence




NPs in the US

•As of 2007, there were 120,000 practicing NPs (excludes NPs whose primary role is education)•The US prepares ~6,000 new NPs each year from the 325 university programs•Two primary settings: primary care and acute care




Types of NPs

•Acute care•Adult health•Family health•Gerontology•Neonatal•Oncology•Pediatric/child•Psychiatric/mental health•Women’s health




New Developments in NP Education

•Increasing development of sub-specialty education for NPs where an NP obtains a more general specialization and then takes additional course work and clinical in a very specialized area•Example: Flight nursing NP—more general specialization is acute care nurse practitioner with additional education in flight nursing




Sub-Specialization

•Example: Family nurse practitioners or adult nurse practitioners who take additional course work in dermatology•Practice is then care, prescribing and procedures in dermatology practice settings




Advantages of Sub-Specialization

•Recognition of the specialized focus of much of US health care•Similar to physician sub-specialties •Increases job opportunities (joint practice with physician colleagues)•Increases NP recognition•Makes better use of physician expertise as NPs manage the routine cases




Forces Within the U.S. Health Care System Driving NP Demand

•Increasing recognition that the biggest problems facing the US health care system are chronic diseases•Research demonstrates that the most effective chronic illness care is provided by teams of health care professionals•Policy is slowly changing to encourage this•Practice is also slowly changing




Summary

•NPs have demonstrated their worth to the US health care system•The forces within the US health care system are changing and there is no guarantee that things will remain the same•Constant political action is necessary to maintain and increase NP status




Legal regulation for NPs

• In the US, this took many years since our laws for nursing practice at any level occur within each state

• Required effective health policy experts, both NPs and legal experts

• Recommendation: Work through the JNA since it is a recognized group in Japan

• Recommendation: Use the argument that NPs fill gaps for under-served groups (e.g. rural)

• Be persistent—NPs are valuable to the health care system




Working with physician organizations

• Difficult task as physicians offer see NPs as “competitors” even though NP/physician teams are very effective

• The reimbursement system will be an important aspect so that physicians do not see their incomes fall as NPs enter the system

• Recommendations: research on NP effectiveness will help as it is hard to argue with data




Working with physician organizations

• If you can design your system so that there are incentives for physicians to work with NPs, many will see the benefits

• May take some change in the culture of practice and this is difficult

• Might consider working with the health care system leaders in addition to physician groups




Admission criteria to NP programs

In the US, we require:• A high grade point average (3.5 out of 4.0)• Graduate Record Exam (standardized test

taken before admission to many graduate programs: verbal, quantitative, analytical)

• Recommendations from two or three professionals

• Interview




Critical thinking

• NP practice requires high levels of critical thinking and diagnostic reasoning

• Memorization approaches are of little use beyond the basic material

• More important to use case studies and actual cases to teach the complexities of independent practice and diagnostic reasoning




Integration of classroom and clinical

• To help the students integrate the classroom material, it is important that they do clinical hours at the same time

• They can use the clinical experiences for part of their classroom case studies

• Helps them to integrate and apply the classroom information to the clinical setting




Predictors of success on NP exams

• Generally most NP programs have found that success on NP certification exams are highly correlated with advanced physiology courses

• Likely related to the complexity of the material and the critical thinking it takes to pass the physiology exam

• Recommendation: advanced physiology should be early in the curriculum

• Recommendation: allow one re-take of the course




The Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)




“Unless we are making progress in our nursing

every year, every month, every week, take my word for it—we are

going back.”

Florence Nightingale, 1914

Introduction




Case’s Practice Doctorate in Nursing•Case’s Nursing Doctorate (ND), established in

1979, was the first in the country •Gone through a number of changes; became the

DNP in 2005•Levels of DNP students:

Graduate Entry (for students with non-nursing bachelor’s degrees)

Post-licensure / MSN Post-MSN




History of the Nursing Doctorate

Prior to1965

1965 – 1986 1979 - 2005 1990 2005

Doctoral degree in

non-nursing discipline

DNSc or PhD in Nursing

Doctor of Nursing (ND)

at Case; clinical

doctorate

Changed to award ND only with

MSN

Conversion of ND to DNP

Two DNP tracks created at Case:• Educational Leadership Track: prepares doctoral-level

nursing educators for clinical and academic settings • Clinical Leadership Track: prepares doctoral-level

clinicians or practitioners in research and health policy




DNP PhDPractice doctorate in nursing Research-based doctorate

preparing nurse scientistsUses education and expertise in leaderships roles on the front lines of the nursing profession

Emphasizes expertise in clinical nursing as well as competence in research to advance the science of nursing

Enables leadership roles in nursing practice, business, administration, clinical research, and academia

Focuses primarily on research and education

DNP and PhD Differences




Strengths of the Nursing Doctorate

• Emphasizes the leadership role Nursing practice extends beyond direct patient care Need to look at care processes for collectives of

patients (e.g., public health leadership)• Enhances status and privilege in the

discipline• Expands the social definition of a

doctorate as autonomous, hospital privileges, licensure (Pharm D, PsyD, DPT)




• Strengthens translational research skills and research utilization• Provides research background for evidence-based

practice Applies research evidence to

practice• Augments the science base of faculty• Bolsters the ranks of qualified nurse

educators

Strengths of the Nursing Doctorate




• Differences between DNP and PhD are not well understood

• To advance the nursing profession, greater focus and emphasis are needed

• Converting ND to DNP helps to clarify the nursing degree’s equivalence to dentistry’s DDM or medicine’s MD

• More DNP-trained faculty needed to demonstrate parallel with MD, since both involve the same number of years of education

Challenges of the Nursing Doctorate




The Need for DNP-Prepared Faculty

• Shortage of nurse educators who are: Doctorally prepared Expert clinicians

• In 2001, less than ½ of nursing faculty were doctorally prepared• Many nursing faculty set to retire within 25 years• Other doctoral programs:

Focus on preparation of researchers or clinicians Do not have content or experience in clinical

leadership development or educational methods




FPB’s DNP Core Curriculum

Clinical Clinical Leadership Leadership

TrackTrack

Educational Educational Leadership Leadership

TrackTrack

Statistics for Health Sciences

Nursing Theory

Health Care Planning & Policy and Information Management Systems

Advanced Nursing Research

DNP Project or Thesis

Core Program Leadership Track




• 33: Academic positions Assistant Dean, Program Director, AD, BSN, MSN &

DNP faculty• 31: Independent practice APNs (most CNM or NP)• 31: Offices based with collaborative

providers• 29: Clinical/community & leadership

positions Example: VP for Nursing, city

hospitals, community health agencies• 3: Researchers• 2: Army/Navy

Impact: Case ND/DNP Graduates (N=129)




DNP Graduates• See list of DNP Alums for selected names and positions




ND/DNP Alumni Profile

Scott R. Ziehm, RN, ND ’87Assistant Dean, Masters Entry Program in Nursing andClinical Professor of Psychiatric NursingDepartment of Community Health Systems at University of California, San Francisco

DNP Alum??

Documents

May L. Wykle, PhD, RN, FAAN, FGSA Dean and Florence Cellar Professor Click to edit Master title style Click to edit Master subtitle style Advanced Nurse