National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties (NONPF) Competencies

National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties (NONPF) Competencies

Nurse practitioners (NPs) are critical in nursing since they offer acute and primary care across the healthcare continuum. NPs assess, diagnose and treat diseases and educate patients and communities about preventive mechanisms. In other words, every NP must understand and demonstrate proficiency in the National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties (NONPF) Competencies. The NONPF came in to improve NP education quality (NONPF, n.d.). The fact is that NP education and training must be strong and relevant, which explains why NONPF established the nine competencies and evaluation mechanisms for NPs.

Competency 1: Scientific Foundations

The program prepared me to meet NONPF’s first competency through the use of high-fidelity simulation (HFS). Generally, scientific foundations require nurse practitioners to be knowledgeable in medical sciences. However, psychiatric NPs should focus on neuroscience, clinical and evidence-based practices, and translational research (NONPF, 2017). The teaching model uses human patient simulation, which immersed me in a contextual learning environment. According to Abram and Forbes (2019), HSF provides realistic nursing scenarios and hence fosters cognitive development and advancement of psychomotor skills via deliberate practice. The approach helped me understand how to think critically and incorporate knowledge from other disciplines in my nursing practice.

Competency 2: Leadership

The second competency requires NPs to display professional accountability, advocacy, and scholarship. Educators spent significant time on management, communication, business development, and leadership styles. In one of the sessions, I learned that participatory and transformational leadership styles are critical for NPs since they foster the development of other nurses hence improving care quality and patient safety. The program helped me realize the role of inter-professional collaboration in improving healthcare. According to Zakhari (2021), psychiatric-mental health NPs (PMHNPs) must pay attention to close relationships. I read the book multiple times and realized people, colleagues, and patients are support systems for NPs.

Competency 3: Quality

The third competency requires NPs to boost the desired healthcare outcomes and align the results to professional knowledge and standards. The lecture advised me to read and understand Buppert’s (2021) Chapter 14, and I learned that the standard of care revolves around time, effectiveness, safety, and outcome based on the patient’s condition. The program helped me understand the quality improvement techniques, Six Sigma, and Plan-Do-Study-Act. NPs should incorporate the culture of safety, understand laws to enhance care quality, and know the fundamentals of cost-benefit analysis (NONPF, 2017). The idea was for PMHNPs to learn how to improve healthcare outcomes.

Competency 4: Practice Inquiry

The program employed simulation-based teaching for formative and summative testing. According to Jeffries et al. (2019), competency-based education through the use of simulation helps NPs to understand cases and patient conditions. The teachers obligated to teach practice inquiry competencies encouraged me to be proficient in translational research. For instance, I applied academic research to simulation-based cases or fictitious clinical settings. The program enlightened me on how to translate new knowledge and clinical experience into NP practice to improve patients’ health outcomes.

Competency 5: Technology and Information Literacy

Healthcare is an ever-changing field thanks to advanced technology and increased electronic or digital devices. According to NONPF, information literacy revolves around digital technology and communication tools for effective communication (NONPF, 2017). The preceptors helped me understand how electronic health records (EHR), telehealth, and wearable technology improve care quality and patient safety. Today I can hone the usage of technology by applying the concepts or learned didactic content in real-life situations. The main objective is for NPs to integrate appropriate technology for knowledge management to foster health care.

Competency 6: Policy

The educators prepared me for the competency by highlighting all regulations and decisions regarding health and influencing health resource allocation. From the program, I realized that there is a relationship between policy and NP practice. I used Buppert’s (2021) Chapter 12 and understood the concept of the federal budget, comparative health systems, and national health priorities. Most importantly, the program influenced my thinking about the bill- the drafting process. NP associates must discuss issues or problems with lobbyists to make bill- drafting and debating relevant.

Competency 7: Health Delivery System

According to Abram and Forbes (2019), for PMHNP practice, students must engage in a complex decision-making process since patients’ biopsychosocial factors can complicate the treatment process. In other words, there is a need for NPs to incorporate organizational knowledge, health programs, and interpersonal skills to make relevant decisions. The preceptors taught me how to plan, develop and implement public and community health programs seamlessly. Besides the reading material, Buppert (2021) also explained the healthcare reform process and how NPs can make organization-based decisions.

Competency 8: Ethics

According to Stewart and DeNisco (2019), NPs must act professionally by understanding the ethical implications involving scientific advances. Nurse practitioners must incorporate ethics when making life-saving decisions and settle on appropriate evaluation criteria. The program highlighted and explored sources of information facilitating ethical decision-making. I understood all ethical frameworks, the role ethics committee and genetic counseling, and the purpose of legal statuses and cultural sensitivity. I realized that I am a consequentialist theorist.

Competency 9: Independent Practice

The educators focused on nurturing the novice. My nurse educators acted as preceptors and employed positive teaching techniques. For instance, the preceptors offered constructive feedback without criticism. According to Andrews et al. (2021), the teaching approach (non-criticism feedback) allows NP students to make critical decisions effectively. The program was designed to make students independent decision-makers based on scientific knowledge. The educators allowed PMHNPs to assess and diagnose human simulations and recommend treatment plans without direct supervision.

Proposal of How I Plan to Engage in Social Change in My Community as a Nurse

 Practitioner

As an NP, I plan to engage in a societal change in the community by employing knowledge, skills, and attitude (KSA) and untrustable professional activity (EPA) techniques. For instance, when dealing with mental health-related patients, I will use the KSA. The approach allows NPs to utilize their knowledge, skills, and attitudes to determine the right diagnosis (Hodges et al., 2019). I will interview patients, assess their intoxication and withdrawal and use psychometrically approved tools for diagnosis.

Though EPA is used in medical schools, the technique is critical in linking competencies to nursing practice and improve their feasibility (Hodges et al., 2019). I plan to participate in social change by using EPA to incorporate appropriate technology in relevant mental health problems. For instance, I plan to use electroconvulsive therapy for patients having treatment-resistant depressive disorders. The treatment plan alleviates major depressive disorder (MDD)-related symptoms. My plan will ensure that the right technology is used for maximum benefit in the community.

Description of One Legislative and One Advocacy Activity in Which My State Nurse Practitioner Organization are Involved

In Alabama, section 34-21-86 of the Code of Alabama requires certified registered NPs to engage in collaborative practice with physicians. In other words, NPs must inter-professionally collaborate with other healthcare professionals to promote patient safety and recovery, and care quality. For instance, in Alabama, a PMHNP treating a child with MDD should collaborate with a neonatal nurse and other physicians to understand the patient and offer quality treatment.

Nurse Practitioner Alliance of Alabama’s (NPAA) third objective is to address important issues influencing NPs’ general welfare (NPAA, n.d.). For instance, NPAA realized that NP education centers are flooded with generational learners who are digital natives. The NP organization proposed that generational nurse practitioner students require adequate learning resources for just-in-time content delivery.

Conclusion

The program has adequately prepared me for NONPF competencies. The use of HFS, educator-preceptors, non-criticism feedback teaching, and summative learning techniques helped me understand and master the nine competencies. An NP should be knowledgeable in medical sciences, display leadership and advocacy skills, provide quality care, use translational research, and incorporate appropriate IT literacy.

References

 Abram, M. D., & Forbes, M. O. (2019). High-fidelity simulation: an application to psychopharmacological training for the psychiatric nurse practitioner student. Issues in mental health nursing, 40(3), 260-267. https://doi.org/10.1080/01612840.2018.1519621

Andrews, C. S., Steller, J. V., & Friedman, A. K. (2021). Development of collaborative family nurse practitioner education using physician preceptors: A focused critical ethnographic study. Nurse education today, 107, 105110. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nedt.2021.105110

Buppert, C. (2021). Nurse practitioner’s business practice and legal guide (7th Ed.). Jones & Bartlett Learning.

Hodges, A. L., Konicki, A. J., Talley, M. H., Bordelon, C. J., Holland, A. C., & Galin, F. S. (2019). Competency-based education in transitioning nurse practitioner students from education into practice. Journal of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners, 31(11), 675-682. DOI: 10.1097/JXX.0000000000000327

Jeffries, P. R., Bigley, M. B., McNelis, A. M., Cartier, J. M., Pintz, C., Slaven-Lee, P. W., & Zychowicz, M. E. (2019). A call to action: Building evidence for the use of simulation in nurse practitioner education. Journal of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners, 31(11), 627-632. DOI: 10.1097/JXX.0000000000000335

Nurse Practitioner Alliance of Alabama (NPAA). (n.d.). About NPAA: Alabama Nurse Practitioners are by your side. https://www.npalliancealabama.org/

Stewart, J. G., & DeNisco, S. M. (2019). Role development for the nurse practitioner (2nd Ed.). Jones & Bartlett Learning.

The National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties (NONPF). (2017). Nurse practitioner core competencies. https://cdn.ymaws.com/www.nonpf.org/resource/resmgr/competencies/20170516_NPCor eCompsContentF.pdf

The National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties (NONPF). (n.d.). National Organization of nurse practitioner faculties. https://www.nonpf.org/

Zakhari, R. (2021). The psychiatric-mental health nurse practitioner certification review manual. Springer Publishing Company.

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The National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties (NONPF) has determined nine broad areas of core competencies that apply to all nurse practitioners, regardless of specialty or patient population focus.

NONPF created the first set of Nurse Practitioner Competencies in 1990; the most recent updates were incorporated in 2017. This course was designed to prepare you to synthesize knowledge gained throughout the program and to apply each of the nine core competencies within your selected areas of practice and your representative communities.