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Preparedness for clinical practice is a critical issue for new nurse practitioners (NPs). We assessed new NPs' perceptions of their preparation for and transition into clinical practice. A national sample of 698 licensed NPs who graduated between 2006 and 2011 and were practicing as NPs in the United States completed a survey related to clinical preparation and practice transition. The majority reported feeling generally or somewhat prepared for practice after their NP education. They also expressed interest in receiving assistance as they transition into practice through residencies and mentoring. Specific findings regarding preparedness and transition into practice are described, and recommendations are offered. •New nurse practitioners (NPs) felt most prepared in health assessment, evidence-based practice, and health teaching.•New NPs felt least prepared for procedures, billing, and electrocardiogram/X-ray interpretation.•Registered nurse experience before NP education was not associated with feeling more prepared.•New NPs desire assistance transitioning into clinical practice.•New NPs are interested in postgraduate residency programs.

The exponential rise in the number of older adults suggests a growing need for geriatricians. Up to 30,000 geriatricians will be needed in the United States by 2030 to care for this aging population and physician supply will be unable to keep up with demand. A potential solution to this shortage could be the addition of advanced practice clinicians within the geriatric specialty. In 2022, a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) site created a geriatrics nurse practitioner residency program. The residency offers a one-year immersive geriatric clinical experience for new graduate nurse practitioners. Didactic content is an important supplement to clinical education and focuses on topics specific to our patient population, allowing the residents to tailor their care to the needs of patients. This article describes the background, development, and implementation of a geriatrics nurse practitioner residency program, an analysis of the first year program outcomes, and concludes with implications for practice.

Few patients with opioid use disorder receive medication for addiction treatment. In 2017 the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act enabled nurse practitioners (NPs) and physician assistants (PAs) to obtain federal waivers allowing them to prescribe buprenorphine, a key medication for opioid use disorder. The waiver expansion was intended to increase patients' access to opioid use treatment, which was particularly important for rural areas with few physicians. However, little is known about the adoption of these waivers by NPs or PAs in rural areas. Using federal data, we examined waiver adoption in rural areas and its association with scope-of-practice regulations, which set the extent to which NPs or PAs can prescribe medication. From 2016 to 2019 the number of waivered clinicians per 100,000 population in rural areas increased by 111 percent. NPs and PAs accounted for more than half of this increase and were the first waivered clinicians in 165 [corrected] rural counties with 5.7 million residents. In rural areas, broad scope-of-practice regulations were associated with twice as many waivered NPs per 100,000 population as restricted scopes of practice were. The rapid growth in the numbers of NPs and PAs with buprenorphine waivers is a promising development in improving access to addiction treatment in rural areas.

Social determinants of health (SDOH) knowledge and skills are crucial to improving health outcomes and achieving health equity. Yet, many barriers exist including gaps in training for nurse practitioner (NP) faculty, challenges in curricular integration, and translation of SDOH skills to NP practice. With the pedagogical shift to competency-based education, SDOH can be integrated throughout NP education utilizing a structured approach. To improve NP faculty knowledge of SDOH and enhance curricular inclusion, a team of NP educators developed a faculty enrichment initiative that consisted of a comprehensive toolkit and 3-part webinar series. As a result, the toolkit provides evidence-based strategies for SDOH curricular integration as well as assignment exemplars to streamline the process for NP faculty. The webinar series, structured using evidence-based teaching strategies, faculty engagement, and competency-driven learning objectives, focuses on disseminating knowledge, skills, and the practical application of SDOH principles in NP curricula. In conclusion, with successful faculty enrichment initiatives, existing barriers can be overcome resulting in knowledgeable faculty, robust curricular integration, and practice-ready NPs that improve health outcomes and promote health equity.

Background The rapid evolution of the epidemiological picture and the recent SARS-COV-2 pandemic has expressed the vulnerabilities of health systems and focuses attention on the population’s needs. The nurse’s figure in the care teams is universally identified; however, the implementation of the role within some care settings turns out to be complex and challenging. This integrative review aims to identify the barriers and facilitators in implementing the role of the nurse in primary care settings. Methods An integrative review was conducted on the Medline and Cinahl databases until 9 June 2020. Qualitative, quantitative, and Mixed-method research studies were selected to identify studies related to the barriers and facilitators of the nurse’s role in nursing facilities’ primary care. For the extraction of the results, the Consolidating Framework for Research Implementation (CFIR) was used to identify the factors that influence implementation in health care. Results Following the duplicates’ removal, the search identified 18,257 articles, of which 56 were relevant to the inclusion criteria; therefore, they were included in the summary. The selected studies were conducted in thirteen countries, most from Oceania, Europe, North America, Latin America, and the Caribbean. The barriers reported most frequently concern the nursing profession’s regulatory and regulatory aspects within the contexts of care, cultural and organizational aspects, training, and the transfer of specific skills, which were previously designated to doctors. The facilitators are mainly linked to the nurse’s adaptability to the various contexts of care, recognizing the patient’s role, and the desire to develop multidisciplinary and effective working groups to respond to the health needs of the population in primary care contexts. Conclusion This review highlighted the main barriers and facilitators in implementing the nurse’s role in primary care settings. These results offer useful elements for stakeholders to identify effective strategies in preparing programs and activities for implementing the nurse’s role, acting on the elements identified as barriers and favouring the aspects that emerge as facilitators.

Nurse practitioners and physician assistants are providing an increasing share of health care services, and education programs have proliferated. These dynamics will have lasting effects on the health care workforce and on relationships among health professionals.

Social media is increasingly utilized as a resource in healthcare. We sought to identify perceptions of using social media as an educational tool among healthcare practitioners. An electronic survey was distributed to healthcare administrators, nurses, nurse practitioners, pharmacists, physicians, and physician assistants f hospital systems and affiliated health science schools in Georgia, Maryland, South Carolina, and Wisconsin. Survey questions evaluated respondents' use and views of social media for educational purposes and workplace accessibility using a Likert scale (1 = strongly disagree, 5 = strongly agree). Nurses (75%), pharmacists (11%), and administrators (7%) were the most frequent respondents. Facebook® (27%), Pinterest® (17%), and Instagram® (17%) were the most frequently accessed social media platforms. Nearly 85% agreed or strongly agreed that social media can be an effective tool for educational purposes. Among those who had social media platforms, 43.0% use them for educational purposes. Pinterest® (30%), Facebook® (22%), LinkedIn® (16%), and Twitter® (14%) were most frequently used for education. About 50% of respondents had limited or no access to social media at work. Administrators, those with unlimited and limited work access, and respondents aged 20-29 and 30-39 years were more likely to agree that social media is an educational tool (OR: 3.41 (95% CI 1.31 to 8.84), 4.18 (95% CI 2.30 to 7.60), 1.66 (95% CI 1.22 to 2.25), 4.40 (95% CI 2.80 to 6.92), 2.14 (95% CI 1.53 to 3.01) respectively). Residents, physicians, and those with unlimited access were less likely to agree with allowing social media access at work for educational purposes only. Healthcare practitioners frequently utilize social media, and many believe it can be an effective educational tool in healthcare.

Several subgroups of the International Council of Nurses Nurse Practitioner/Advanced Practice Nurse Network (ICN NP/APNN) have periodically analyzed APN (nurse practitioner and clinical nurse specialist) development around the world. The primary objective of this study was to describe the global status of APN practice regarding scope of practice, education, regulation, and practice climate. An additional objective was to look for gaps in these same areas of role development in order to recommend future initiatives. An online survey was developed by the research team, and included questions on APN practice roles, education, regulation/credentialing, and practice climate. The study was launched in August 2018 at the 10 Annual ICN NP/APNN Conference in Rotterdam, Netherlands. Links to the survey were provided there and via multiple platforms over the next year. Survey results from 325 respondents, representing 26 countries, were analyzed through descriptive techniques. Although progress was reported, particularly in education, results indicated the APN profession around the world continues to struggle over titling, title protection, regulation development, credentialing, and barriers to practice. APNs have the potential to help the world reach the Sustainable Development Goal of universal health coverage. Several recommendations are provided to help ensure APNs achieve these goals.

The use of nurse practitioners (NPs) in primary care is one way to address growing patient demand and improve care delivery. However, little is known about trends in NP presence in primary care practices, or about how state policies such as scope-of-practice laws and expansion of eligibility for Medicaid may encourage or inhibit the use of NPs. We found increasing NP presence in both rural and nonrural primary care practices in the period 2008-16. At the end of the period, NPs constituted 25.2 percent of providers in rural and 23.0 percent in nonrural practices, compared to 17.6 percent and 15.9 percent, respectively, in 2008. States with full scope-of-practice laws had the highest NP presence, but the fastest growth occurred in states with reduced and restricted scopes of practice. State Medicaid expansion status was not associated with greater NP presence. Overall, primary care practices are embracing interdisciplinary provider configurations, and including NPs as providers can strengthen health care delivery.