Educating Neonatal Nurse Practitioners: Innovative Educational and Business Models Barbara K. Redman, Ph.D., R.N. Dean and Professor Wayne State University College of Nursing
The problem Hospital administrators came to us and said: We NEED more Neonatal Nurse Practitioners Wayne State has the ONLY NNP Master s s Program in Michigan. What can you do to help us?
What do Neonatal Nurse Practitioners ( NNP s) do?
Neonatal Nurse Practitioners (NNPs) Manage a caseload of sick infants in consultation and collaboration with a neonatologist. Make health care decisions in the assessment, diagnosis, management and evaluation of sick and critically ill newborns (including premature and low birth weigh babies) and infants through the first year of life.
Need for Nurse Practitioners Michigan has only about one-third the number of nurse practitioners it needs to match the national average which is not currently meeting the country s s need with shortages in the neonatal and pediatric areas being even more profound. Estimates are that for each Neonatal Nurse Practitioner (NNP) who graduates, there are 80 positions open across the country. Similar shortages exist for Acute/Critical Care Pediatric Nurse Practitioners.
Neonatal Nurse Practitioners
Why the increased need? The need for neonatal and pediatric acute/critical care NP s has grown in recent years due to a number of factors: Advances in medical care that have led to longer survival of infants and children with complex health needs who in the past would not have survived. Decreasing financial support for physician residency programs. Sharp reductions in the total number of months of intensive care training for pediatric residents.
Why the increased need? Need neonatal stats here for Detroit and Michigan? and note that we will need to examine, with our external research partners, neonatal outcomes after the introduction of more NNPs in clinical settings.
In response to the identified need, we created the Wayne State College of Nursing Executive NNP Program
Partnership 15 months in length Nurses in program must be sponsored by a partnering agency that pays a fee Hospital pays tuition and fees; nurses agree to payback contract with hospital Current partners: Children s s Hospital of Michigan and Providence Hospital
Executive NNP Program Perks include: Individualized cohort of student individualized start dates based on demand Different, intensive model of course teaching Specialized subspecialty experiences not available in our regular program Supervised review for the NNP certification exam Free parking to attend classes on campus Free registration to our WSU CON Research Day A special tote bag with the WSU Executive NNP designation PDA with specialized, NNP-relevant downloads Course books will be provided
WSU Executive NNP Program First 5 students began January 2007 and will Graduate in May 2008. We anticipate additional hospital partners in the future.
Media Attention in the Business Section of the Free Press
What else are we doing? Exploring OUTREACH partnerships Submitted HRSA training grant Lobbying for Congressional set-aside funds Meeting with possible outreach partners to explore distance learning options we can start now e.g., Macomb County Center.
Rising to the Challenge WSU has the only NNP program in the State of Michigan. Building on WSU CON s s strong and successful record of outreach master s s education programs (Reilly, 1980; 1990) We propose advanced neonatal and pediatric nursing master s s education outreach through satellite training centers across the State, beginning in Marquette, Saginaw and Grand Rapids.
Infants/Children with Complex Health Issues: NP Outreach (HRSA training grant submitted 12/06) to enhance advanced nursing education in the provision of culturally competent, family- centered, evidence-based, quality health care to acutely and critically ill neonates, children, and adolescents throughout the State of Michigan (many of whom live in underserved areas) as well as to better meet their long-term chronic condition and follow-up needs.
Infants/Children with Complex Health Issues: NP Outreach To meet the critical need for specialized APN s, we will: implement an Acute Care Pediatric Nurse Practitioner (ACPNP) program (with a post-master master s s option for primary care PNP s), enhance the curricula of our already-existing existing Neonatal Nurse Practitioner (NNP), and Primary Care Pediatric Nurse Practitioner (PCPNP) programs, and increase availability and accessibility to the NNP, ACPNP, and PCPNP master s s programs using diverse educational methodologies at targeted outreach sites across the State of Michigan.