Background/
Purpose: The accelerating demand for increased access to quality primary care services is changing health care delivery models and creating opportunity for registered nurses (RNs) to expand their roles (Smolowitz et al., 2015). Pre-licensure nursing students need to be prepared to meet the needs of patients in the traditional acute care setting and to meet the needs of patients/families in the primary care setting (Bauer & Bodenheimer, 2017). Primary care is the entry point into the healthcare system, where health promotion, illness prevention, team-based management of chronic disease, and care coordination occur. It should be available in all communities including rural and urban underserved communities. Most primary care nursing education has occurred post licensure or at the graduate level. Pre-licensure nursing students are rarely exposed to the focused knowledge and skills requisite in primary care (Shaffer, Swan, Bouchaud, 2017; Wojnar & Whelan, 2016). Pre-licensure nursing students need exposure to primary care, so they will be prepared to practice to the full extent of their license and patients/families have increased access to quality primary care services (Flinter, Hsu, Cromp, Ladden, & Wagner, 2017). The purpose of the Oregon Primary Care Transformation (OPACT) project is to expand the primary care registered nurse (RN) workforce in Oregon’s rural and urban underserved areas, by: 1) developing robust, targeted curricular modifications and teaching strategies to prepare students with knowledge and skills needed in primary care nursing practice, and 2) developing and expanding academic-practice partnerships in primary care.
This abstract highlights progress made in two key objectives and lessons learned during year one of a 4-year study.
Methods: A multi-site, mixed-methods, longitudinal design was used to collect data from pre-licensure baccalaureate nursing students (n = 23) and clinical preceptors (n = 8). Data collected through interviews, focus groups, and surveys were analyzed descriptively.
Results: Eight 3-hour primary care focused (e.g., health equity, population health) concept-based learning activities (CBLAs) were developed and piloted using both face-to-face and virtual platforms. Preliminary data revealed some CBLAs yielded greater learning than others. Specifically, all students (100%; n = 9) agreed that the health equity CBLA increased their understanding (u = 2.29; sd = 1.54), but fewer (73%) agreed that the population health CBLA increased their understanding (u = 2.27; sd = 1.54). Thematic analysis of student commentary yielded three themes: acquiring new knowledge, expanding existing knowledge, and participating in shared learning. Eight new academic-practice partnerships were developed in rural (n = 6) and urban underserved (n = 2) communities. Further analysis of student/preceptor interviews and surveys are pending and will be reported.
Conclusion: CBLAs are an effective strategy to modify curricula and increase student learning. Expanding academic-practice partnerships into primary care helps to inform curricula and clinical skill development to prepare pre-licensure baccalaureate nursing students to practice to the full extent of their license and to meet the needs of patients/families in the primary care setting.
