American Association of Nurse Practitioners Research Agenda, 2023-2028.

ABSTRACT: This report highlights the 2023-2028 American Association of Nurse Practitioners Research Agenda (AANP-RA), which focuses on the research goals of AANP as an organization and is based on its mission and strategic plan. The purpose of the AANP Research Agenda is to outline research priorities that advance the AANP Strategic Plan and concurrently address gaps in nursing science. American Association of Nurse Practitioners supports research studies that are rigorously designed and conducted using quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-methods approaches, as well as implementation science with the potential to positively impact both NP practice and patient health outcomes. The AANP-RA strategy is guided by the PEARL acronym: examining NP Practice, Education, policy Advocacy, Research, and Leadership. A discussion of each area is presented along with suggested topics.

Methodologies to Advance Health Equity and Reduce Health Inequities in Nursing Research.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention affirm that health equity is only achieved when everyone has opportunities to attain full health potential without disadvantages related to social position or socially determined circumstances. To reduce health inequities in nursing research, researchers must increase diversity in study samples and ensure that study participants are representative of all populations in the United States. Identifying effective methods for recruiting underrepresented populations must be a thoughtful and reflective component of every research methodology. To achieve health equity in research studies, nurse researchers and clinicians must carefully plan ways to recruit study participants who represent all populations.

Vaccine hesitancy in prenatal women and mothers of newborns: Results of an interventional study.

INTRODUCTION: The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of a web-based, vaccine resource-directed, interactive communication intervention for vaccine-hesitant prenatal women and mothers of newborns/infants to make informed decisions based on scientific evidence about vaccinating themselves and their newborns/infants, respectively. METHODS: A prospective quasi-experimental design was used to determine the effectiveness of the intervention for vaccine-hesitant prenatal women (stage 1) and for mothers of newborns (stage 2). A survey was administered to prenatal women to determine attitudes about vaccines for themselves during pregnancy. A survey on parental attitudes about vaccination for their children was administered to mothers of newborns. The surveys were administered to determine levels of vaccine acceptance. Vaccine acceptors and vaccine-hesitant individuals were included in the study as control and intervention group participants, respectively; vaccine refusers were eliminated from the study. RESULTS: Among prenatal vaccine-hesitant women, 82% had full prenatal vaccination coverage after receiving the intervention (χ2 = 7.2, P = .02). The majority of mothers of newborns/infants (74%) fully immunized their infants. DISCUSSION: The interventions for prenatal vaccine-hesitant women were effective in changing their status from hesitant to acceptors. The mothers of newborns/infants who were initially hesitant had vaccination rates that exceeded the comparison group comprised of vaccine acceptors.

Methodological Analysis: Randomized Controlled Trials for Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 Vaccines.

Critical appraisal of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) determines rigor, quality, and whether the findings are applicable to the populations served in clinical practices. The authors conducted a rigorous analysis using the RCT Critical Appraisal Skills Programme (CASP) Checklist for the two RCTs Pfizer (New York, NY) and Moderna (Cambridge, MA) conducted and the reporting of these RCTs using the Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials checklist. The goals for this analysis were twofold: (1) enable health care providers to understand the methods and outcomes of these RCTs, and (2) enable health care providers and community leaders to become champions for the vaccines to reduce vaccine hesitancy among all populations. The analysis is presented using each of the 11 questions on the CASP tool while comparing the methodology and results for each vaccine. Most CASP tool items were positive or yes for both the Pfizer and Moderna RCTs. Items that were not scored as yes are discussed. The analysis outcomes revealed that both RCTs were rigorously conducted and provide an assurance to all health care providers and the public of the safety and efficacy of both vaccines to impact the astounding morbidity and mortality of COVID-19 disease. The authors believed that the analysis was an essential component of the distribution process to develop plans and communication strategies to reduce potential vaccine hesitancy and resistance.

Design and outcomes of a nurse practitioner preceptor development program.

ABSTRACT: Nurse practitioners (NPs) are educated to provide high-quality patient- and family-centered care to underserved, culturally diverse, medically complex populations. Nurse practitioner faculty plan curricular activities that challenge NP students to critically assess individuals and populations with the goal of preparing NP students to be "practice-ready" upon graduation. Nurse practitioner clinical training occurs in practice settings with NP preceptors, with specific areas of clinical expertise. However, there is a lack of NP clinical preceptors educationally prepared to clinically teach and evaluate NP students. This article presents the design, implementation, evaluation, and outcomes from a 3-year grant funded by the United States Human Resources and Administration Services that featured a web-based Primary Care Nurse Practitioner Preceptor Development Program. Ninety percent of NPs who precepted NP students completed all web-based learning modules. Preceptors with educational preparation via online modules to guide NP student learning in clinical settings are a critical resource for faculty to prepare NP students to be practice-ready upon graduation. This web-based learning platform for online NP preceptor education may be a successful approach for expanding and improving the NP preceptor pool nationwide.

Reporting and Appraising Research Studies.

In today's fast-paced health care delivery system, new evidence for practice emerges on a daily basis, and research results are quickly disseminated. Nurse practitioners are challenged to evaluate the relevance of the evidence to their patient populations and whether clinical practice should be changed on the basis of the presenting evidence. Nurse researchers also need to report study findings in a relevant, organized, and scholarly manner using reporting guidelines. This paper discusses both critical appraisal checklists and reporting guidelines providing exemplars for using each of the available tools.

Quadangulation: A New Methodology Combining Ethnographic Research and Quality Improvement Projects in Health Science Research.

The purpose of this paper is to describe quadangulation as a methodology for conducting and analyzing combined ethnographic studies and quality improvement (QI) projects into one comprehensive investigation to improve the quality of health care. A comprehensive base of cultural influences in all health-care delivery settings, obtained from the design, implementation, and interpretation of a rigorous ethnographic investigation, and a QI project is new proposed methodology, called quadangulation. This new methodology has the potential to influence transformational cultural change, quality whole-person patient-centered care, and improved population health, through in-depth qualitative and quantitative analysis of cultural influences and clinical problems.

Critiquing Research Evidence for Use in Practice: Revisited.

Nurse practitioners need to critically appraise the abundance of research evidence and clinical practice guidelines to make astute decisions about the implementation of the best available evidence to clinical practice. There are numerous ways to appraise research and practice guidelines that are designed to inform clinical practice with the overall goals of improving patient outcomes. This article presents existing tools to appraise the research evidence in addition to a guide for providers on critical appraisal of a research study.

Traditional and Nontraditional Collaborations to Improve Population Health Using Geospatial Information SystemMaps: Analysis of the Opioid Crisis.

INTRODUCTION: The study aims were to analyze interprofessional practice collaborations among traditional and nontraditional health care providers and to educate nurse practitioner preceptors and students on population health, specifically, implementation of geospatial information system (GIS) maps and the correlation with the opioid crisis. METHODS: A descriptive analysis was used to examine New York State data on the opioid crisis in comparison to outcome data from GIS maps of opioid use in two boroughs in New York City. Web-based modules were designed for analysis of GIS maps of opioid use near practice settings. RESULTS: New York State data provided context for local opioiduse, while GIS maps identified specific areas of the New York City boroughs that were most affected by the opioid epidemic. DISCUSSION: The importance of local GIS maps is that the information is available in real-time, and thus interventions can be designed, evaluated, and changed quickly to meet the immediate needs of the community.

Social-Emotional Development of Toddlers: Randomized Controlled Trial of an Office-Based Intervention.

PURPOSE: During the toddler years, temper tantrums and impulsive behaviors are the norm. These behaviors can frustrate even the most experienced mothers. DESIGN AND METHODS: A prospective, double blind, randomized controlled trial using pre-test/post-test experimental design was used to examine the effectiveness of an office-based educational program to improve maternal confidence and the social-emotional development of toddlers. The Toddler Care Questionnaire (TCQ) was administered to all mothers as a pre and post intervention test. The treatment intervention was a videotaped (DVD) parenting skills intervention on the social-emotional development of toddlers and on maternal confidence in caring for toddlers. RESULTS: Sixty mothers and 60 toddlers entered the study with 29 mothertoddler dyads randomized to the treatment group and 31 to the control group. Twenty-six (26) mother-toddler dyads in the treatment and 25 mother-toddler dyads in the control group completed the study. Pairwise comparisons of adjusted means showed significant improvements for both toddler groups on the Brigance toddler screen, and no statistically significant difference in gains between the groups. The mixed model results for the TCQ showed an overall significant improvement from preto post-test, and a non-significant interaction between group and time indicting no significant difference in gains seen by treatment groups. CONCLUSIONS: Brief educational programs on DVD's are an efficient way to offer information to mothers while in the office waiting area. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: Pediatric nurses who encounter mothers who struggle with caring for their toddlers may find brief-office based interventions a valuable tool for educating parents.

Putting the mouth back in the head: HEENT to HEENOT.

Improving oral health is a leading population health goal; however, curricula preparing health professionals have a dearth of oral health content and clinical experiences. We detail an educational and clinical innovation transitioning the traditional head, ears, eyes, nose, and throat (HEENT) examination to the addition of the teeth, gums, mucosa, tongue, and palate examination (HEENOT) for assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of oral-systemic health. Many New York University nursing, dental, and medical faculty and students have been exposed to interprofessional oral health HEENOT classroom, simulation, and clinical experiences. This was associated with increased dental-primary care referrals. This innovation has potential to build interprofessional oral health workforce capacity that addresses a significant public health issue, increases oral health care access, and improves oral-systemic health across the lifespan.

OHEP: an oral health education program for mothers of newborns.

INTRODUCTION: The purposes of the study were to determine (a) the knowledge base of mothers of newborns on oral health for newborns and young infants and (b) the effectiveness of an oral health education program provided to mothers of newborns prior to discharge from the postpartum unit. METHODS: Ninety-four mothers of healthy newborns on a postpartum unit were randomized to the treatment or control group. A pretest was administered to each mother to assess the mother's knowledge of infant oral health. The treatment intervention was a DVD designed collaboratively by an interprofessional team of nurse practitioners and dental faculty to educate the mothers on oral health care for their newborns. The control intervention was a DVD on newborn nutrition. All participants received routine newborn nursery discharge instructions by the postpartum nurses and physicians. Follow-up appointments were scheduled 6 and 12 months later for administration of the posttest to the mothers and for oral health assessments of the infants. RESULTS: Pretest questionnaire results revealed that most mothers lacked knowledge about oral health care for infants and young children, especially concerning vertical transmission of streptococcus mutans through food-sharing practices. In addition, 28.4% of the mothers were not aware of the benefits of fluoride as a prevention strategy for dental caries. A significant no-show rate for the planned follow-up visits in the dental clinic hindered our plans to evaluate the effectiveness of the oral health educational program on prevention of dental white spots or decay when the study infants were 6 and 12 months old, respectively. DISCUSSION: The knowledge deficit of mothers of newborns regarding oral health care for infants may be one of the contributing factors to the high prevalence rate of dental caries in children younger than 71 months. An oral health educational program provided to mothers on the postpartum unit prior to discharge from the hospital may help increase mothers' knowledge about oral health care and prevention of dental caries in infants and young children.

The Sensitivity Training Clown Workshop: enhancing therapeutic communication skills in nursing students.

AIM: The aim of this study was to examine the long-term effectiveness of the Sensitivity Training Clown Workshop (STCW) provided to 131 baccalaureate nursing students. BACKGROUND: The STCW was designed and implemented through a collaboration between the artistic director of the Big Apple Circus and nurse faculty to help students understand emotions, learn peripheral awareness skills, and become engaged with patients. METHOD: Forty participants responded to an 18-month follow-up evaluation survey. RESULTS: The majority of participants reported applying lessons learned in the workshop in their current practice, regardless of their area of nursing employment. CONCLUSION: The STCW is an effective method of educating nursing students for pediatric practice. The techniques used in the workshop are applicable to other practice settings.