The Nursing Professional Development Practice Model.

Major disasters occurring within the Unites States require nursing participation as a component of a successful response. Disaster nursing includes the care of populations affected by disasters, public health emergencies, and mass casualty events, both natural and man-made. A unique knowledge base, abilities, and skills are needed to respond appropriately to health care and human service needs resulting from these events. Despite prior efforts to advance disaster nursing as a specialty, none were sustainable and a professional framework for establishing standards and guidelines remains lacking. Disaster nursing is a complex arena where the intersection of competence, scope of practice, regulation, and clinical guidelines continues to evolve. Professional credibility and our contribution to disaster response lie in our ability to articulate and advance professionalism. Disaster nursing as a specialty practice requires a similar foundational framework to nursing specialties recognized by the American Nurses Association within a model of professional practice in order to ensure population outcomes that are reflective of safe, quality, evidence-based practice. It is time to define a disaster nursing scope of practice, establish standards for care, identify best practices, and pursue the establishment of an independent professional organization within the field of disaster nursing. This will establish the necessary foundation for optimizing nursing's contribution to and support of the National Health Security Strategy. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2017;11:641-646).

Until spring 2023, nurses in professional development did not have terminal degree options tailored to their needs. In response, The Ohio State University College of Nursing launched the Doctor of Nursing Education (DNE) program with two tracks: academic nurse educator and nursing professional development (NPD). This program addresses the national shortage of doctorally prepared nurse educators and prepares graduates to lead educational change. This article describes the curriculum and leadership focus of the NPD track of the DNE program, aligned with the Association for Nursing Professional Development scope and standards of practice (2022). It highlights four capstone projects implemented by NPD practitioners in health care settings. Students conducted evidence-based, quality improvement, and program evaluation projects that improved clinical teaching, nurse certification, interdisciplinary collaboration, and new graduate nurse mentoring. These NPD projects highlight the transformative impact of the DNE program, illustrating how doctoral education drives meaningful improvements in health care practice across diverse settings.

This research was undertaken to delineate the future role of nursing professional development (NPD) specialists. Using a modified e-Delphi technique, seven key roles for NPD (partner for practice transitions, learning facilitator, change agent, mentor, leader, champion of scientific inquiry, and advocate for NPD specialty) and their concomitant competencies evolved. Results of this study informed the update of the NPD Scope and Standards of Practice and may be used to identify competencies for the specialty.

Since its publication in 2016, the third edition of Nursing Professional Development: Scope and Standards of Practice has generated excitement for the specialty. The scope and standards has promoted uniformity of title, stimulated changes in position descriptions, fostered adherence to scope of practice, and served as a unifying framework for system-wide nursing professional development departments. However, continued action is required in the areas of advocacy, research, and engagement with the specialty organization.

The purpose of this article is to describe the development of a professional practice model (PPM) for advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs). A literature review was conducted on PPMs. Simultaneous review of authoritative resources, including The National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties (NONPF) and the Licensure, Accreditation, Certification and Education (LACE) Consensus Model, was performed. An expert panel was established to validate the transformational advanced professional practice (TAPP) model. APRNs are relied upon by organizations to provide leadership in the delivery of high-quality, cost-effective health care while improving access and eliminating preventable morbidities. Existing models fail to fully capture the professional scope of practice for APRNs. The TAPP model serves as a framework to guide professional development and mentorship of APRNs in seven domains of professional practice (DOPP). To meet the Institute of Medicine's recommendations for the future of nursing, APRNs should practice to the fullest extent of their education and training. Providing clarification regarding the DOPP of the APRN role is needed to standardized professional practice. The TAPP model is an inspiring blueprint that allows APRNs to model the way by delivering comprehensive health care in seven DOPP.

The Essence of a Pain Experience

Nurse leaders can shape ethical cultures

In June 2004, an article in American Journal of Nursing reported findings of a three-year study of organizational culture, attitudes, and assignment of responsibility for patient safety in small, rural hospitals in nine Western states. The study found that most errors fall within realm of nursing practice and that physicians, administrators, and nurses themselves tend to see patient safety as largely a nursing responsibility. Asked to identify which profession has primary responsibility for ensuring patient safety, 96 percent of nurses and more than 90 percent of physicians, administrators, and pharmacists assigned primary responsibility to nurses. Only 22 percent of respondents believed that physicians, nurses, pharmacists, and administrators share responsibility for patient safety equally. Unfortunately, however, nurses and physicians differed on role of nurses in effecting change. Most of nurses indicated that they had several responsibilities in reducing medical errors, including reporting them, educating themselves and colleagues, serving as role models, making recommendations for changes in procedure and policy, reviewing reported adverse patient-safety events, and participating in investigations. Only 8 percent of physicians who responded to survey identified nurses as members of decisionmaking team. Nurses have a genuine impact on patient safety. Studies have found a link between patient safety and RN staffing and an increased rate of error when hospital nursing staff has a smaller proportion of RNs. These are worrisome findings in light of severe national shortage of nurses. Part of medical malpractice crisis, then, is confusion in health care system and how it affects role of nurse. There is no confusion in American Nurses Association's code of ethics. This document, first adopted in 1950 and revised in 2001 to reflect and embrace role of today's nurse, consists of a set of planks that set out nurses' fundamental values and commitments. They also offer a starting point for understanding how nurses should be involved in thinking about medical error, and why nurses blame themselves for medical errors. The first few planks are most important. These planks state that nurse's primary commitment is to patient (plank 2), and that nurse promotes, advocates for, and strives to protect health, safety, and rights of patient (plank 3). Interpretive Statements that accompany code add that nurses are committed to patient's health, well-being, and safety throughout patient's life span, and in all settings in which health care needs are addressed. Further, code directs that, as an advocate for patient, the nurse must take appropriate actions regarding any instances of incompetent, unethical, and illegal practice by any member of health care team or health care system or any action on part of others that places rights or best interest of patient in jeopardy. For nurses to function effectively in this role, they must be knowledgeable about code of ethics, standards of practice, relevant laws, and their own organization's policies and procedures. Moreover, when nurse is aware of inappropriate or questionable practice in provision or denial of health care, concerns should be expressed to person engaging in questionable practice. Attention should be called to possible detrimental effect upon patient's well-being or best interests, as well as to integrity of nursing practice. When factors in health care delivery system or health care organization threaten welfare of patient, concerns should be directed to responsible administrator. If indicated, problem should be reported to an appropriate higher authority within institution or agency, or to an appropriate external authority. The interpretive statements for third plank also remind nurses that they have a responsibility to implement and maintain standards of professional nursing practice. …

Parish Nursing Integrates Faith With Long-Term Care

Putting Together the Puzzle for Professional Development

In the past year since the 3rd edition of the Nursing Professional Development: Scope and Standards of Practice was released, many Nursing Professional Development departments across the nation have incorporated this foundational document into their practice. In this column, we continue to describe the activities of our colleagues to integrate the scope and standards into practice.

Society expects high performance levels of health professionals because of their advanced education, clinical expertise, and access to personal information about patient’s lives. The recently revised American Nurses’ Association (ANA) Social Policy Statement (ANA, 2003) delineates nurses’ responsibilities to the profession, American society, and the health of the nation. The notion that a health professional could be practicing while under the influence of alcohol and other drugs, or while psychiatrically ill, is one that evokes strong responses from the public and from members of the profession. Since the 1960s, issues of professional responsibility, including licensure and state mandated legal regulation, have received greater attention, and three important perspectives on impaired practice, professional, ethical, and legal, have become articulated and refined. Self-regulation of a profession in relation to impaired practice emerged in the American Medical Association in the 1970s. Nursing soon followed with the 1978 organization by the Maryland Nurses’ Association of the Committee for the Rehabilitation of the Registered Nurse, one of the first peer assistance initiatives, and with participation in interdisciplinary activities directed toward policy development and peer assistance. Unified national action by the American Nurses’ Association began with advocacy for nurses by committed nursing and medical experts and a policy statement developed by three cooperating organizations. In 1981, the ANA convened the Task Force on Addictions and Psychological Dysfunctions with representatives of the ANA, the Drug and Alcohol Nurses’ Association (which has since joined with IntNSA), and the National Nurses’ Society on Addiction, now known as the International Nurses’ Society on Addiction (IntNSA). The statement, which emerged from this group collaboration, became a resolution to the American Nurses Association’s House of Delegates (HOD) and was subsequently passed and became ANA policy in 1982. The preparation and ANA publication of the monograph, Addictions and Psychological Dysfunction, the Profession’s Response to the Problem, was published in 1984. This included the pol

Science, applications, and regulation

In 2021, the Association for Nursing Professional Development commissioned a national study to examine relationships between nursing professional development (NPD) staffing and organizational outcomes and to compare NPD staffing in pediatric and adult hospitals. This report compares data from children's and adult hospitals, which indicate that children's hospitals, in general, have significantly more staffing resources, including NPD practitioners. Insufficient data were obtained to examine relationships between NPD staffing in children's hospitals and organizational outcomes.

Nursing, with leadership from the American Nurses Association (ANA), has a long-standing commitment to the development of standards. The first nursing practice standards were published in 1973. Since that time, both the ANA and specialty nursing organizations have developed standards. However, the proliferation of standards, reflecting a wide divergence of intent, format, and scope, has limited their usefulness. In 1989, the ANA appointed a Task Force (now a Committee) to address this issue. The Committee, working with representatives of the specialty nursing organizations, has developed a framework for development of both nursing practice standards and guidelines. Standards and guidelines are defined and differentiated. The relationship of standard and guidelines development to the federal government's effectiveness initiative is discussed.