Structures, Processes, and Complexities of Graduate Nurse Education

Given the increased number of Americans expected to seek primary care due to the Affordable Care Act (2010), there is also a need for more advanced practice registered nurses (APRNS) in general and nurse practitioners in particular to serve the primary care needs of the public.  The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (2010) made provisions for federal funding support to five Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Graduate (GNE) Nurse Demonstration projects. The primary goal of these demonstration projects is to increase the number of APRN students and consequently meet the increasing primary care demand.  Further, goals of the projects are to assure quality education, increase the number of primary care providers, and promote access to primary care to underserved communities.  In this session the goals, objectives, key processes, and learnings based on direct experiences within a GNE Demonstration will be shared.  There will be an opportunity to discuss complexities of graduate nurse clinical education.  There will also be an opportunity for dialogue about strategies to create innovative clinical education structures, processes, and sustainability models for the future.  Given the continued growth of NP programs and the increased demand for access to health care, a question for all to consider is what is the appropriate clinical training model for APRNs?  This is one of many questions that is being explored and is a challenge for our academic partners.