Dr. Vincent was recently interviewed by Elle Pierson of The Network: Success Strategies for Nurse & Health care Consultants. In this podcast, Dr. Vincent discusses NCA’s consulting process and services and presents tips for preparing for curriculum development/revision and preparing for national accreditation. You can listen to the podcast for free on iTunes at https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/network-success-strategies-for-healthcare-consultants/id1447846413?mt=2
New Article by Dr. Goodyear
Many countries around the world are facing aging populations and an increased need for caregivers. According to a UN report (http://www.un.org/en/sections/issues-depth/ageing/) nearly every country is experiencing an increase in the number of older people in their populations. The number of older people is expected to more than double by 2050 and this dramatic increase will result in societal changes. One of these changes is the increased need for skilled caregivers.
Dr. Rosemary Goodyear recently published an article on developing a train the trainer model in Taiwan to increase the number of skilled caregivers in the community. According to Dr. Goodyear, “It is possible that this model of using an intensive training session will be adopted by other cities in Taiwan to help ease their shortage of qualified caregivers.” Dr. Goodyear will be returning to Taiwan in the summer of 2019 to continue her work with the Ministry of Health to develop a community-based caregiver curriculum for nurse practitioners who work in Taiwan. The majority of NPs in Taiwan are employed in hospitals but there is great need for NPs in the community to manage care for the aged.
To read the article by Dr. Goodyear, click on the following link: https://authors.elsevier.com/a/1YUR55XgHbSbzy. This link will be active until March 21, 2019. No sign up, registration or fees are required
Getting Students Through the DNP Scholarly Project
Every DNP student has to complete a scholarly project and nursing educators often struggle with mentoring students to complete relevant practice focused projects within a prescribed time period. The purpose of the scholarly project is to allow the student to demonstrate skill mastery and to synthesize knowledge gained in the DNP program. Because the DNP is a practice focused degree, the project should provide insight into practice changes that improve patient outcomes. The American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) DNP Essentials states that a DNP project should focus on a practice change that affects healthcare outcomes for patients or populations through direct or indirect care, includes a sustainability plan, and an includes evaluation of the process and/or outcomes.
Critical to developing a DNP scholarly project is formulating a clear, well-developed question that is relevant to practice, can be realistically examined within two to three semesters, and contains a sustainability plan. Some project ideas are relevant to practice and may be important but the time needed to complete them will be considerably longer than that available for the DNP project. In these cases, faculty must guide students to pare and shape their ideas into smaller focused projects that can actually be completed within the allotted time frame and that form the foundation for the student’s lifelong exploration of the chosen area.
In order to be keep students focused, faculty must have both research and practice skill sets. They must understand the issues that can arise in translating evidence into practice and this only comes with knowledge of organizational practice cultures, implementation issues, and factors that may impact sustainability of the innovation. DNP projects often require a great deal of time and effort on the part of faculty as well as the student. But that time and effort can be wasted if an effective practice change isn’t sustainable. Assessing sustainably is a new area of science in healthcare and may, therefore, be unfamiliar to nursing faculty. AHRQ has an excellent beginners guide to thinking about sustainability of practice innovations https://innovations.ahrq.gov/perspectives/how-build-sustainability-innovation-process. Another excellent resource from AHRQ is a guide for sustaining and spreading (disseminating) effective practice changes https://innovations.ahrq.gov/qualitytools/how-guide-sustainability-and-spread.
All DNP scholarly projects should have a sustainability component. Without it, the innovation is likely to fade away and result in no long term improvement in healthcare outcomes. What a waste of time and effort if this happens!
Health Policy: A Professional Responsibility
By Dr. Barbara Sheer
Every aspect of our lives is influenced by policy. At the workplace there are policies and procedures to guide practice. Our daily lives are affected by policies at the local, state, national and international levels. Professional organizations including: American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN), American Association of Nurse Practitioners (AANP), American Nurses Association (ANA), National League for Nursing (NLN) and Sigma Theta Tau International (STTI) have all endorsed policy as part of the professional role. The Institute of Medicine (IOM) in their report “The Future of Nursing Leading Change, Advancing Health” (2010), recognized the importance of nursing and called for nurses to take the leadership role in improving the quality of healthcare. In the “Presidential Call to Action 2015-2017, Influence on Advance Global Health and Nursing”, Cathy Catrambone PhD, RN, FAAN, called for expanding SSTI’s influence through advocacy, policy, philanthropy and lifelong learning. She encouraged all members to contribute leadership, scholarship and research expertise to advance health policy (1).
If nurses are in a pivotal position to effect policy change why are so few involved? Involvement in policy requires both knowledge and skill. These essential elements should be incorporated into all levels of nursing education from the baccalaureate to the doctorate. Nurses must learn about the issues, identify key stakeholders, and become advocates for healthcare.
Our national political landscape is changing every day. In response many women who have not previously been involved in politics are beginning political campaigns and running for office. More nurses than ever are running for political offices and local, state, and national levels. Local, regional and national nursing organizations provide additional opportunities for policy involvement.
Nursing students must get adequate content on policy making and advocacy and develop competencies in these areas before graduation. In addition to policy, graduate nursing curricula must include content on the fiscal context in which practice takes place and address the linkages of health policy, financing, and economics to quality patient outcomes.
Nurse Consultants Associates can provide nurses and educators the skills and knowledge needed for developing leadership in the area of health policy. NCA offers a wide range of services from curriculum consultation, to courses in health policy and workshops. Our associates have first-hand experience in changing health policy on the local, national, and international levels.
Catrambone, C, https://www.sigmanursing.org/docs/default-source/BOD-Documents/call-to-action-brochure-web-2.pdf?sfvrsn=2 (April 31,2018).
NPs Around the World
Have you ever wondered about NP practice in other countries? The NP role around the world is diverse. Educational, regulatory requirements and scope of practice vary by country. For example, nurse practitioners in New Zealand must have a minimum of four years of experience in a specific practice area and complete a clinical master’s degree, and register with the Nursing Council. New Zealand NPs have a broad scope of practice and have the same prescribing authority as medical doctors.1
In Taiwan, NP became the legal title for advanced practice nurses in 2000 but the scope of practice was not clearly defined until 2016. While the scope of practice is broad, physician supervision for some activities is required and NPs do not have independent prescriptive authority.2 However, the role of the NP in Taiwan is rapidly changing and expanding. As the population ages, more NPs are needed to care for the elderly.
In an article in the FAANP forum, Dr. Rosemary Goodyear describes the development and evolution of NPs in Taiwan and the new focus on developing Long Term Care programs. You can read about this at https://www.aanp.org/images/documents/FAANPForum/2018-6.pdf.
1. New Zealand Ministry of Health (2017) Nurse Practitioners in New Zealand https://www.health.govt.nz/our-work/nursing/nurses-new-zealand/nurse-practitioners-new-zealand.
2. Chiu, H., Tsay, S.L., Tung, H.H. (2016). A giant leap in the development of nurse practitioners in Taiwan: from statue to regulation. Journal of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners 28; 622-627.