EDITORIAL
Constructing the next 50 years of nurse practitioner history This year marks the 50th anniversary of the nurse practitioner (NP). The AANP 2015 annual conference this June in New Orleans will be a big celebration and a chance to reminisce about the successes of NPs since the first program started in 1965. There will also be opportunities to look forward to the work remaining. I could look back on the past 50 years, but, instead, I want to look forward to the next 50 years. NPs have certainly had great success on many fronts, but there are still some tasks that need our urgent attention. I call attention here to four major issues: outcomes research, education of clinical/research scholars, political advocacy, and business preparedness. The Editorial Board of JAANP decided last year to address issues related to the education of NPs for the future. To that end, we include in this issue our inaugural Scholars’ Corner by Arons and Taub (2015) about the use of large healthcare data sets to answer clinical questions that can be generalized to larger populations. We have a lot of varied experience answering clinical questions; we now need to move on to examine outcomes in larger populations. But for many of us, statistical analysis is not a comfortable task. Arons and Taub (2015) recognize this and caution that NPs will need to acquire additional skills to lead or participate in this type of research. To help you generate outcomes research questions of importance, you will find a Patient Outcomes Toolkit as well as an NP research agenda and information on funding sources on the AAPN web site (http://www.aanp.org/research/). In last month’s issue, a guest editorial (Wysocki, Underwood, & Kelly-Weeder, 2015) encouraged further development of opportunities for joint PhD/DNP education to enhance the translation and generation of clinically oriented research. This is an important issue for the advancement of our profession; we need NP scholar/clinicians who can do large-scale outcomes research. We have a lot of research about satisfaction as a measure of outcome of care, but what is really needed is the ability to link the process measures with the clinical outcomes in our patient populations. We also need more politically engaged NPs to advocate for rational and socially just healthcare policies. To that end, the Health Policy Work Group of the Fellows of AANP have produced a health policy toolkit to
Journal of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners 27 (2015) 235 C 2015 American Association of Nurse Practitioners
promote political competence among NPs at all levels (Kostas-Polston, Thanavaro, Arvidson, & Taub, 2015). As the Fellows group has grown (see http://www.aanp.org/ fellows-program for more information), so has the combined wisdom and expertise of this highly recognized group. For those attending the annual conference in New Orleans, Fellows activities will be featured, including the recognition and induction of the 2015 class of Fellows. Finally, we have published many articles on business for NPs, but one research paper stands out because of its focus on rural NP clinic ownership (Sharp & Monsivais, 2014). This qualitative research sampled rural NP clinic owners to identify the barriers to what the authors called “social entrepreneurship.” Despite having great success and satisfaction with serving a rural population, a significant barrier to the NPs was a lack of business knowledge and skills to manage the business aspects of their practices. If NPs are to fulfill their potential as a significant factor in the workforce and meet the increasing demands of the Affordable Care Act, new ideas must be implemented to adequately prepare NPs for this role. Over the next 50 years, NPs will be doing exciting work in many arenas. To assist those future NP clinicians and scholars, JAANP will continue to provide cutting-edge research, support NP role development, and chronicle our accomplishments. Charon A. Pierson, PhD, GNP, FAAN, FAANP Editor-in-Chief
References Arons, R. R., & Taub, L.-F. M. (2015). The use of large healthcare data sets in pursuit of a clinical question. Journal of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners, 27(5), 236–239. Kostas-Polston, E. A., Thanavaro, J., Arvidson, C., & Taub, L.-F. M. (2015). Advanced practice nursing: Shaping health through policy. Journal of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners, 27(5), 11–20. Sharp, D. B., & Monsivais, D. (2014). Decreasing barriers for nurse practitioner social entrepreneurship. American Journal of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners, 27(10), 562–566. Wysocki, K., Underwood, P., & Kelly-Weeder, S. (2015). An essential piece of nursing’s future: The continued development of the nurse practitioner as expert clinician and scientist. Journal of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners, 27(4), 178–180.
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Copyright of Journal of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use.
Constructing the next 50 years of nurse practitioner history This year marks the 50th anniversary of the nurse practitioner (NP). The AANP 2015 annual conference this June in New Orleans will be a big celebration and a chance to reminisce about the successes of NPs since the first program started in 1965. There will also be opportunities to look forward to the work remaining. I could look back on the past 50 years, but, instead, I want to look forward to the next 50 years. NPs have certainly had great success on many fronts, but there are still some tasks that need our urgent attention. I call attention here to four major issues: outcomes research, education of clinical/research scholars, political advocacy, and business preparedness. The Editorial Board of JAANP decided last year to address issues related to the education of NPs for the future. To that end, we include in this issue our inaugural Scholars’ Corner by Arons and Taub (2015) about the use of large healthcare data sets to answer clinical questions that can be generalized to larger populations. We have a lot of varied experience answering clinical questions; we now need to move on to examine outcomes in larger populations. But for many of us, statistical analysis is not a comfortable task. Arons and Taub (2015) recognize this and caution that NPs will need to acquire additional skills to lead or participate in this type of research. To help you generate outcomes research questions of importance, you will find a Patient Outcomes Toolkit as well as an NP research agenda and information on funding sources on the AAPN web site (http://www.aanp.org/research/). In last month’s issue, a guest editorial (Wysocki, Underwood, & Kelly-Weeder, 2015) encouraged further development of opportunities for joint PhD/DNP education to enhance the translation and generation of clinically oriented research. This is an important issue for the advancement of our profession; we need NP scholar/clinicians who can do large-scale outcomes research. We have a lot of research about satisfaction as a measure of outcome of care, but what is really needed is the ability to link the process measures with the clinical outcomes in our patient populations. We also need more politically engaged NPs to advocate for rational and socially just healthcare policies. To that end, the Health Policy Work Group of the Fellows of AANP have produced a health policy toolkit to
Journal of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners 27 (2015) 235 C 2015 American Association of Nurse Practitioners
promote political competence among NPs at all levels (Kostas-Polston, Thanavaro, Arvidson, & Taub, 2015). As the Fellows group has grown (see http://www.aanp.org/ fellows-program for more information), so has the combined wisdom and expertise of this highly recognized group. For those attending the annual conference in New Orleans, Fellows activities will be featured, including the recognition and induction of the 2015 class of Fellows. Finally, we have published many articles on business for NPs, but one research paper stands out because of its focus on rural NP clinic ownership (Sharp & Monsivais, 2014). This qualitative research sampled rural NP clinic owners to identify the barriers to what the authors called “social entrepreneurship.” Despite having great success and satisfaction with serving a rural population, a significant barrier to the NPs was a lack of business knowledge and skills to manage the business aspects of their practices. If NPs are to fulfill their potential as a significant factor in the workforce and meet the increasing demands of the Affordable Care Act, new ideas must be implemented to adequately prepare NPs for this role. Over the next 50 years, NPs will be doing exciting work in many arenas. To assist those future NP clinicians and scholars, JAANP will continue to provide cutting-edge research, support NP role development, and chronicle our accomplishments. Charon A. Pierson, PhD, GNP, FAAN, FAANP Editor-in-Chief
References Arons, R. R., & Taub, L.-F. M. (2015). The use of large healthcare data sets in pursuit of a clinical question. Journal of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners, 27(5), 236–239. Kostas-Polston, E. A., Thanavaro, J., Arvidson, C., & Taub, L.-F. M. (2015). Advanced practice nursing: Shaping health through policy. Journal of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners, 27(5), 11–20. Sharp, D. B., & Monsivais, D. (2014). Decreasing barriers for nurse practitioner social entrepreneurship. American Journal of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners, 27(10), 562–566. Wysocki, K., Underwood, P., & Kelly-Weeder, S. (2015). An essential piece of nursing’s future: The continued development of the nurse practitioner as expert clinician and scientist. Journal of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners, 27(4), 178–180.
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Copyright of Journal of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use.
