Procedures taught in family nurse practitioner programs in the United States.

Purpose: To determine the most frequently taught procedures and how important it is to teach these procedures in Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP) programs in the United States according to FNP program directors.

Data sources: Each of the 178 directors of FNP programs in the United States was mailed a survey to complete anonymously. The survey, designed for this study, listed 78 procedures. Directors were asked to indicate whether or not the procedure is taught in their FNP program and how important they think it is that FNP programs in the United States should teach that procedure. A total of 114 (64%) responded.

Conclusions: A total of 10 of the 78 procedures were taught in 50% or more of the FNP programs. These procedures were: obtaining Papanicolau smears, testing visual acuity, audiometry, tympanometry, splinting of extremities, interpreting 12-Lead electrocardiograms, interpreting blood gases, local infiltration of anesthetics, single layer wound closure, and fluorescein staining of the eyes. The directors believed that six of these were very important to teach in FNP programs.

Implications for practice: The findings of this study can be used to plan course content related to procedures in new FNP programs or to revise course content in existing programs. The study results are helpful to individuals who develop continuing education courses to target skills that NPs may find valuable or may need for their current employment setting but were not taught in their educational programs.