About

Nurse Education, Practice, Quality and Retention (NEPQR)
Registered Nurses in Primary Care (RNPC) Training Program

Scope of Work I Acknowledgement of Contributors

Project Title: Nursing: Providing Access to Community-based Healthcare (N-PATH)
Organization: Loyola University Chicago Marcella Niehoff School of Nursing
Principal Investigator: P. Ann Solari-Twadell, PhD, RN, MPA, FAAN
Project Coordinator: Elizabeth Reynolds, BA

This project is supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of an award. The contents are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement, by HRSA, HHS or the U.S. Government.

Scope of Work

Founded in 1935 as the first baccalaureate nursing program in Illinois, Loyola University Chicago, Marcella Niehoff School of Nursing (MNSON) has prepared over 8,500 BSN nurses to assume leadership in community/population health and in the profession. We continue our track record of excellence in population health through the “Nursing – Providing Access To Healthcare (N-PATH)” project. The N-PATH project expands undergraduate nurses’ primary health/ambulatory care content hours, clinical experiences and access to clinical sites with a focus on primary care, community-based chronic disease prevention, and treatment for underserved populations. Expected outcomes are an increase in the number of baccalaureate prepared nurses electing to practice within interdisciplinary teams in community-based primary care health settings and insuring that RN’s working in community-based primary care settings are functioning at the full scope of their license.

Objectives

We will enhance the primary /ambulatory care education of baccalaureate nursing students based on the following N-PATH objectives:

Objective 1: Create a Primary Care Community Health Nurse Scholar (PCCHNS) program beginning in the student’s first year of nursing education and lasting throughout their BSN education which focuses on evidence-based knowledge, skills and attitudes and integrating care coordination particularly for the underserved population in the community primary care setting. The PCCHNS program will be open to four year nursing students, accelerated nursing students and RN completion students.

Objective 2: Enhance and expand clinical partnerships with nurses in primary care/ambulatory settings who provide care for diverse underserved populations including Hines Veteran Administration Hospital System (HVA), Loyola University Medical Center/Trinity Healthcare primary care sites (LUC), Proviso East School-based Health Center (SBHC), Loyola University Chicago Community Nursing Center (CNC) and area Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHC) by delivering continued professional development for practicing RN’s.

Objective 3: Create and pilot-test a primary care, module-based educational program for baccalaureate nursing education that can be replicated by other schools of nursing interested in expanding their educational programming to address primary care and community-based chronic disease prevention and care-coordination, including integration of behavioral health and substance abuse prevention and treatment into primary care. Modules developed for the N-PATH project will address current population health issues emphasizing skill building in evidenced–based interventions in order that registered nurses are prepared to work at the full extent of their licensure. In addition, strategies will be used to encourage graduates to select primary/ambulatory care nursing as a specialty. We will use the four paths (Pre-professional, Preceptor, Patient, and Population) of Loyola’s current PATH Model to organize the project activities. The Pre-professional Path (i.e. student) will include a curriculum with online, hybrid and simulated content, reflective journaling, small group and face-to-face classroom/workshop education, and experiences in underserved sites for our selected PCCHNS. The Preceptor Path will provide special training for clinical preceptors and staff in community/primary care settings to insure that registered nurses have the knowledge, skills, attitudes and institutional support to practice at the full scope of their license working with diverse populations. The Patient Path will focus on assessing patient needs and the development of educationally and culturally appropriate interventions to empower patients to assume more control of their own health status. The Population Path will incorporate a theory and practice in a Culturally Informed Community Health Assessment with proposed recommendations.

Program Details

Expanding upon NPATH Objective 1, the Primary Care Community Health Nursing Scholars (PCCHNS) program requires undergraduate nursing students to complete asynchronous elearning through a badging system which incorporates various topics ranging from primary care with underserved populations to specialty topics such as historical trauma. PCCHN scholars participate in at least one experiential activity each semester. Oftentimes, the elearning content and experiential offerings went hand-in-hand to reinforce educational concepts. The learning objectives from Motivational Interviewing and Telehealth badges were re-emphasized during engaging simulation exercises on campus.

Depth and Breadth

The Primary Care Community Health Nursing Scholars (PCCHNS) and Primary Care Summer Fellowship programs require student applications and interviews before acceptance. Now, having impacted 100+ students at Loyola University Chicago, we are pleased to share the news that department leaders are working towards integrating badge content into the School of Nursing curriculum.

Design and Delivery

A competency-based framework established the structure for the design and development of the instruction. A badging platform (Purdue University’s Passport) was used to deliver the content and learning activities to the Primary Care Community Health Nursing Scholars (PCCHNS) students. Instructional strategies to achieve learning outcomes centered on active learning and reflective learning. A particular focus on learning in the affective domain to foster attitude change towards serving the needs of underserved populations in primary care settings was an integral goal of the PCCHNS/SF program.

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Acknowledgement of Contributors

Instructional Designer	Curriculum Reviewers	Curriculum Work Group
Dr. Stacey Zurek	Dr. Ida Androwich	Chair: Dr. Jorgia Connor
	Dr. Sheila Haas	Dr. Margaret Delaney
		Dr. Carol Kostovich
		Dr. Amanda Peacock
		Dr. Joanne Dunderdale
		Dr. Lisa Skemp
		Dr. Stacey Zurek

Topics	Subject Matter Experts
Primary Care	Pamela Andresen, PhD, RN, Professor Emeritus, Marcella Niehoff School of Nursing, Loyola University Chicago
Motivational Interviewing	Pamela Andresen, PhD, RN, Professor Emeritus, Marcella Niehoff School of Nursing, Loyola University Chicago
Culturally Informed Community Nursing Practice	Lisa Skemp, PhD, RN, FGSA, FAAN, Professor, Marcella Niehoff School of Nursing, Loyola University Chicago Amanda Peacock, DNP, RN, AGPCNP-C, Clinical Assistant Professor; Director of Adult Gerontology Primary Care Nurse Practitioner Track, Marcella Niehoff School of Nursing, Loyola University Chicago
Self-Management Support	Amy O’Malley, MSN, RN, Instructor, Marcella Niehoff School of Nursing, Loyola University Chicago
Interprofessional Collaboration	Fran Vlasses, PhD, RN, NEA-BC, ANEF, FAAN, Professor Emeritus, Marcella Niehoff School of Nursing, Loyola University Chicago
Care Coordination	P. Ann Solari-Twadell, PhD, RN, MPA, FAAN, Associate Professor, Marcella Niehoff School of Nursing, Loyola University Chicago
Roles for Nursing in Telehealth	Carolyn Rutledge, PhD, FNP-BC, FAAN, Professor, Associate Chair of Nursing, Director of the Doctor of Nursing Practice (APN), School of Nursing, Old Dominion University; Co-Director of the Center for Telehealth Innovation, Education, & Research (C-TIER).
Historical Trauma in the American Indian Population	Janel Barajas, RN, BSN, Clinical Instructor, Oglala Lakota College, Pine Ridge, South Dakota, Department of Nursing
Considerations in the Care of the American Indian	Michelle Bruns, RN, MSN, Former Chairperson and Associate Professor, Oglala Lakota College, Pine Ridge, South Dakota, Department of Nursing
Primary Care in Rural Settings	Ida Androwich, PhD, RNC, FAAN, Professor Emeritus, Marcella Niehoff School of Nursing, Loyola University Chicago
Care of the U.S. Military Veteran	Anna Bretschneider, PhD, APRN-BC, former Education Service Chief, Edward Hines, Jr. Veterans Hospital, Maywood, Illinois
Spiritual Care in Nursing	P. Ann Solari-Twadell, PhD, RN, MPA, FAAN, Associate Professor, Marcella Niehoff School of Nursing, Loyola University Chicago
Care of Underserved Women	Fallon Flowers, MSN, BS, RN, WHNP-BC, Nurse Practitioner, Access Community Health Network (ACHN) FQHC
Infection Control in Primary Care Settings	Robert Kentner, DNP, RN, Infection Prevention and Quality Manager, Sidney Regional Medical Center, Sidney, Nebraska
Gender Affirming and Culturally Appropriate Care for LGBTQ+ Patients	Cecelia Hardacker, MSN, RN, CNL, Director of Education, Howard Brown Health, Chicago, Illinois
Assessment of Substance Abuse in Underserved Populations	P. Ann Solari-Twadell, PhD, RN, MPA, FAAN, Associate Professor, Marcella Niehoff School of Nursing, Loyola University Chicago
HIV and the Underserved	Norma Rolfsen, MS, FNP-BC, HIV Expert Nurse Practitioner, Educator, and Advocate, Chicago, Illinois

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