Time for change? A qualitative exploration of the educational preparation and subsequent continuing professional development needs of nurse and midwife prescribers

Organizational Engagement: One State's Experience With Invigorating Affiliate Membership and Building a Sustainable Fundraising Model

Over the last 6 years, the Pennsylvania Affiliate of the American College of Nurse-Midwives has worked to meet the needs of its diverse membership and increase the capacity of the affiliate board by taking a series of strategic steps. This article details the key components of this journey, which has culminated in a successful annual conference with over $118,000 in net revenue to help meet affiliate goals, including pursuing midwifery modernization legislation for Pennsylvania and an increase in our affiliate membership by almost 100 individuals. The annual conference, Midwifery Forward, which completed its fifth year in 2023, has also given our community of midwives a yearly reason to gather and reconnect, celebrate accomplishments, welcome new graduates, and make plans for the year ahead. The goal of this article is to share the specifics of our strategic planning, so that other affiliates and organizations may benefit as they develop strategic plans in the larger effort to increase membership and engagement and generate sustainable income for their midwifery organizations.

Outline of nurse prescribing education programs: A scoping review

BACKGROUND

The role of nurse prescribers is developing rapidly to meet rising health care demands worldwide. However, prescribing is a complex process that requires nurses to receive the proper education.

OBJECTIVES

To identify what is known in the research field on nurse prescribing education.

DESIGN

Arksey and O'Malley's five-stage methodological framework was used to guide this scoping review.

DATA SOURCES

PubMed, Web of Science, CINAHL, Embase, and the Cochrane Library.

REVIEW METHODS

Databases were searched from inception to December 31, 2022. Data were extracted from papers meeting the inclusion criteria using the data chart and synthesized using a narrative method.

RESULTS

Seventy-one studies were included in the scoping review. Five education content themes and four education modes were identified. In addition, positive effects of nurse prescribing education and the learning needs of nurses were also found.

CONCLUSIONS

There is considerable heterogeneity in nurse prescribing education content and mode. This scoping review highlights the benefits of implementing education programs to prepare nurses for prescribing. However, nurses still have some unmet needs for prescribing education. More longitudinal studies and evaluation tools are needed to determine long-term effects. Future nurse prescribing education programs could consider the dual mentorship system, interactive educational activities, and specialized courses to improve the motivation of nurses and the quality of education.

Non-medical prescribing in nursing: the history and evolution of independent and supplementary prescribing

Non-medical prescribing has been shown to be beneficial to both service users and practitioners spanning all care sectors. Nurse prescribing has developed significantly in its short existence, and is set to continue to push the boundaries of practice as the role and education of nurses changes and adapts to current population healthcare needs. This article details the origins and evolution of non-medical prescribing, the variety of annotations found on the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) register involved and how these affect nursing practice, as well as the expansion of roles. It also discusses supervision and assessment requirements in line with the NMC standards for prescribing programmes, and the Royal Pharmaceutical Society competence framework.

Factors Influencing Nurses’ Opinions on the Implementation of Nursing Advice in Poland

In the past five years, nursing practice has changed drastically in Poland. Nurses have received many new competencies in response to the need to provide services to patients. The purpose of the study was to analyze nurses’ opinions on the new rights to provide nursing advice and to identify factors that influence their opinions in this regard. A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among 798 nurses who work in various medical facilities. The influence of selected variables on nurses’ opinions on the provision of nursing advice to patients was evaluated using logistic regression. The nurses surveyed had a positive attitude towards new competencies and believed that they were able to independently provide the patient with advice within the scope provided by Polish legislation. Logistic regression showed that the factors that statistically significantly influenced nurses’ opinions on particular types of nursing advice were age (p = 0.038), education (p = 0.000), and the place of work of the respondents; that is, hospital (p = 0.016). More research is needed to demonstrate the effectiveness and quality of the implemented nursing advice and its impact on the functioning of the health system.

Skills, competencies, and policies for advanced practice critical care nursing in Europe: A scoping review

OBJECTIVES

Management of critically ill patients is changing due a rise in population age, comorbidity and complexity. To accommodate these changes, the demand is increasing for advanced practice nurses. More knowledge is needed regarding the role of advanced practice critical care nurses in European countries. The aim of the study was to review the literature describing skills and competencies required for advanced practice critical care nursing in Europe and to investigate related policy.

REVIEW METHOD

We performed a scoping review including papers published in 1992-2019 targeting policy and the intersection of advanced practice nursing (level of practice), critical care nursing (specialty area) and Europe (geographical origin).

DESIGN AND DATA SOURCES

Main sources of evidence were PubMed, EMBASE, PsycINFO, CINAHL, Cochrane Library, SweMed+, Scopus, ERIC and Social Sciences Citation Index. We also searched grey literature, webpages, reference lists and performed hand-search.

RESULTS

The search identified 11,478 papers/references of which 42 were included. Four levels of practice were identified with unclear boundaries: professional nurse, specialized nurse, advanced practice nurse and advanced critical care practitioner (nurse or other). Most skills and competencies described in the literature were generic to advanced practice and only few were area specific to critical care. Advanced practice critical care nurses were often unable to fulfil their role because education, supportive policy and legislation were lacking.

CONCLUSIONS

This scoping review informs the policy makers and the INACTIC study of existing advanced practice in critical care nursing in Europe. The advanced role in critical care nursing is characterized by inconsistency regarding policy, education, titles, roles, scope of practice, skills and competencies. Levels of practice and areas of specialization need to be clarified. Most skills and competencies identified were generic for advanced practice nursing and many were generic for any profession. Task-shifting from physician to nurse needs to be more clearly defined and patient outcomes described. Given the scarcity of papers in our target area, we believe it might be too early to conduct a systematic review at this time.