[SOLVED] The National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties (NONPF) has determined core competencies that apply to all nurse practitioners, regardless of specialty or patient population focus

Name: Academic Research Bureau
Item: Academic Research Bureau
Rating: 5
Author: Shawn Chamberlain

The National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties (NONPF) has determined core competencies that apply to all nurse practitioners, regardless of specialty or patient population focus. NONPF has represented them within nine broad areas of core competence. NONPF created the first set of Nurse Practitioner Competencies in 1990; the most recent updates were incorporated in 2017. This synthesis course has had the overarching objective of preparing you to be able to synthesize knowledge gained throughout the program and be prepared to apply each of the nine core competencies within your selected areas of practice and your representative communities.

The nine broad areas of competency are:

Scientific Foundations
Leadership
Quality
Practice Inquiry
Technology and Information Literacy
Policy
Health Delivery System
Ethics
Independent Practice

To Prepare:

Review this week’s Learning Resources, focusing on the NONPF Core Competencies Content.

The Assignment

For each of the nine NONPF competencies, write one paragraph explaining how the program has prepared you to meet it (for a total of at least nine paragraphs). Then, propose and explain how you plan to engage in social change in your community as a nurse practitioner. Be specific and provide examples.

Expert Answer and Explanation

National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties (NONPF) Competencies

The nursing practice is constantly changing to include new modes of practice and a wider scope of practice (Moore, & Hawkins-Walsh, 2020). Nurses make up the vast majority of staff in the healthcare sector and need to demonstrate certain competencies to better impact the positive outcomes in health. This paper analyzes how the program has prepared me to meet the nine NONPF core competencies.

NONPF Competencies

Scientific Foundations

The scientific foundation competency addresses the need for the crucial analysis of data in the improvement of advanced nursing practice and proceeds to integrate the new knowledge into the overall practice of nursing (NONPF, 2020). The components also focus on the translation of research and the development of new practices. The program has been effective in training on best research techniques and how to obtain reliable information from data and derive new knowledge. The process is an important scientific process as it enables the formation of reliable and credible knowledge to be applied in practice.

Leadership Competencies

The competencies focus on the ability of nurses to be able to assume advanced and complex leadership positions (‌OSU, 2022). In this regard, nurses should be able to lead in a critical and reflective manner, advocate for better access, advance the practice setting and improve collaboration (NONPF, 2020). The program has been useful in creating awareness of the different leadership styles and character traits of an effective leader. During the course, I have been able to learn how to become a reliable and effective leader. The program also provided insights on issues related to teams and teamwork management, crisis management, and stress management within a team and the entire organization. The information is relevant in the development of an effective leader.

Quality Competencies

The healthcare sector is constantly changing, and with it, the modes ofc are delivery. One of the key components that need to change as well is the quality of care for the patients (NONPF, 2020). The quality competencies focus on how nurses can make use of available evidence to constantly provide better improvements in clinical practice (‌OSU, 2022). The program provided insights on the culture of safety and the use of different tools such as the Plan-Do-Study-Act, which offer guidelines on better change implementation. Nurses can make use of data from evidence-based practice to the teaching of implementing change to ensure the attainment of quality competencies.

Practice Inquiry Competencies

While the identification of new knowledge is important, it needs to be translated to meet the needs of the patient or specific practice (NONPF, 2020). The practice inquiry competencies ensure that a nurse in the leadership position has the capacity to translate new knowledge into practice. In this regard, the nurse would then be able to come up with knowledge based on the clinical research to better provide a better-quality model of care (‌OSU, 2022). However, in order to implement the practice inquiry competencies, a nurse needs to be able to know where the challenge or gap is before creating the desired changes. The program teaches how to identify practice problems and appraisal of evidence to determine the best available mode of intervention.

Technology and Information Literacy Competencies

The program advocated for nurses to be aware of new technologies, such as the use of nurse informatics to identify patterns and trends from evidence. The technology can be useful in the translation of beneficial information towards the delivery of better care. As a nurse, ensuring that proper strategies are used to integrate technology in healthcare can improve the effectiveness of care (‌OSU, 2022).

Policy Competencies

The program is essential in informing about the correlation between internal or external policies with the overall nursing practice. The program advocates for the nurses to understand the relevance of advocacy and be part of the leadership categories responsible for the creation of policies. The intervention is essential in providing better patient care and an effective working environment for the nurses (Kottwitz & Owens, 2021).

Health Delivery System Competencies

The program provided information on how nurses can apply the knowledge obtained from research and in school into practice. Information such as the organizational structure and decision-making strategies can be used as the basis of health delivery. The competency addresses the need to interpret, use and correlate data within the facility.

Ethics Competencies

As a nurse, it is important that the decisions made are ethical and lead to the best patient outcomes. The program provides a nurse with different ethical requirements for a nurse and how they can be applied in practice. Can then make use of the information related to ethics and apply the knowledge in determining best patient practice (Chan et al., 2020).

Independent Practice Compliances

With the increasing nursing roles, nurses need to be informed on how to conduct independent practices. The program offer differentiation on the multiple nursing processes and how they can be used to improve patient care. Nurses are then able to determine the best-suited skill and function as licensed independent practitioners (Chan et al., 2020).

Plan to Engage Social Change

I plan to make use of the nine principles to advocate to better nurse to patient interaction and provision of patient centered care. The nine competencies will provide the required expertise and guidelines ion interacting with other people in the field as well as the patients in general. I would make use of the competencies to identify the gap, collect relevant data, analyze using appropriate software and ensure effective implementation.

Conclusion

This paper analyzed how the program has prepared me to meet the nine NONPF core competencies. There nine NONPF competencies are aimed at improving the overall nursing practice and ensuring better patient care. The program has had an impact on how to develop or better increase the effectiveness of nurses in line with the implementation of the core competencies.

References

Chan, T. E., Lockhart, J. S., Schreiber, J. B., & Kronk, R. (2020). Determining nurse practitioner core competencies using a Delphi approach. Journal of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners, 32(3), 200-217.

Kottwitz, C., & Owens, J. (2021). A Social Justice Assignment Integrating University Mission and NONPF Competencies. Journal of Nursing Education, 60(11), 656-656.

Moore, J., & Hawkins-Walsh, E. (2020). Evaluating nurse practitioner student competencies: Application of entrustable professional activities. Journal of Nursing Education, 59(12), 714-720.

NONPF. (2020). National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties (NONPF). Nonpf.org. https://www.nonpf.org/

‌OSU. (2022). DNP in Nursing Handbook 2021-2022: NONPF NP Competencies. Osu.edu. https://u.osu.edu/dnpnursinghandbook2021/appendix/nompf-np-competencies-needed-for-ms/