The family nurse practitioners (FNP) role has been shown to increase access to quality, safe primary care for populations that have not had this access before.
A new study supported by a 2022 SDG Research Grant Award and led by Dorcas Kunkel, RN/PHN, DNP, clinical associate professor at the School of Nursing, will assess the relevancy of an existing set of core competencies for training and practice of advanced practice nurses in primary health care contexts, in particular FNPs in Liberia and for additional application in Sub-Saharan Africa.
The project is built upon what was learned in previous educational initiatives in Liberia and will provide information for governmental, and non-governmental organizations and boards of nursing to begin to plan for context relevant, national, graduate level FNP curriculum for programs of nursing in universities and colleges.
These advanced practice nursing roles can begin to fill the profound gap that exists in the numbers of primary care providers in Liberia and across Sub-Saharan Africa.
"I, along with my research team and supporting colleagues in Liberia, have been extremely grateful for this SDG Research Grant Award," said Kunkel. "It has made it possible to plan for data collection that is context relevant, necessary and ethically sound. This work can provide information to build a foundation (sustained) for advanced practice nursing initiatives through the appropriate country channels using the PEPPA Framework in Liberia and that is applicable to other Sub-Saharan countries. This project fulfills Steps 4 & 5 of the PEPPA Framework (a nine step process)."
Kunkel adds that she is looking forward to data collection in the near future, and to analyzing and presenting and writing about the results and how they can be used.
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