The Columbia University School of Nursing held a ribbon cutting ceremony on September 14 to celebrate the opening of a new nurse practitioner primary care group in Washington Heights. Pioneering in nurse practitioner-led care, this is the second primary care practice established by Columbia’s School of Nursing, with the other practice held in Midtown Manhattan. Both facilities are completely staffed and managed by nurse practitioners, and a third practice is expected to open later this year in Morningside Heights along with a house calls practice.
Through an affiliation with ColumbiaDoctors and New York-Presbyterian Hospital, Columbia’s Nurse Practitioner Primary Care Group provides patients with access to a world-class network of specialists from the Columbia University Medical Center. The new practice will help to expand health care options for residents of Washington Heights and its surrounding neighborhoods.
Bobbie Berkowitz, Dean of Columbia University School of Nursing and Senior Vice President of Columbia University Medical Center, says the new nurse practitioner primary care group meets the growing need to prepare advanced practice nurses to deliver more complex care as people live longer with chronic diseases that are now manageable rather than fatal. The primary care nurse practitioner practice is designed to provide high-quality, comprehensive, and coordinated care to individuals and families in their communities.
Stephen Ferrara, Associate Dean of Clinical Affairs at Columbia University School of Nursing and Executive Director of the Nurse Practitioner Association of New York State also spoke out about the new nurse practitioner practice. Ferrara says that nurse practitioners focus on the whole person to help them make lifestyle choices that prevent disease and help them stay as healthy as possible. Nurse practitioners get to know each patient, their history, health goals, and challenges, and develop clear and personalized treatment plans along with the patient.
The Nurse Practitioner Primary Care Group in Washington Heights meets the diverse needs of the local community by offering integrated primary care and mental health services. Containing a series of specialized spaces intended to improve the patient experience, nurse practitioners are enabled to deliver efficient and compassionate care. In addition to seven exam rooms and three consulting rooms, the practice facility includes a multi-purpose community space for members of the community to learn about healthcare and wellness in a comfortable and welcoming environment. Services offered at the practice include preventive health, women’s health, family health, travel health, mental and behavioral health, checkups, disease management, LGBT care, illness and injury, nutrition and wellness, and vaccinations.
Nurse practitioners (NPs) are registered nurses with advanced education in the form of a Master’s degree or clinical doctorate. They are licensed to provide comprehensive care, including prescribing medications. Their role in the healthcare field helps patients make choices to prevent disease and maximize their health.
According to statistics, gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men (MSM) comprise more than half of the population living with HIV/AIDS in the US despite accounting for only 2 percent of the population. Rebecca Schnall, PhD, assistant professor at Columbia University’s School of Nursing was awarded a $7.9 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to lead a research team in addressing this disparity by testing an HIV prevention mobile app developed specifically for high risk young men.
The project will be a five-year, multisite clinical trial to adapt and test MyPEEPS, an evidence driven intervention using mobile phone technology to deliver HIV prevention information to diverse, high risk, adolescent MSM. Using 700 racially and ethnically diverse men between the ages of 13-18, a randomized controlled trial will be conducted across four geographically diverse locations: Birmingham, Ala.; Chicago; New York City; and Seattle. MyPEEPS is an existing in-person intervention aimed at this population which employs a curriculum of six modules covering topics of correct condom use, dealing with stigma and shame, and tips on communicating effectively about safer sex. The research team will be developing MyPEEPS mobile to increase its accessibility and will feature games, videos, and interactive scenarios.
Schnall will be joined with co-principal investigator Robert Garofalo, MD, Division Head, Adolescent Medicine at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago; Professor of Pediatrics, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. Garafalo’s team was responsible for developing and pilot testing the original MyPEEPS intervention.
The team’s mission is to provide this population with information to help make better health decisions. Young, diverse MSM are the most at-risk for HIV infection. There is already a dearth of evidence-based interventions targeting this community, with much evidence that mobile technology is a great way to connect with this generation and meet them where they are. The research team is hopeful for the intervention’s potential to decrease infections and increase insights on how to reduce HIV infection among diverse, young MSM in the US.
A new master’s entry program being introduced at Columbia University will address the growing need for advanced nurses to deliver more complex care. The program will build on and replace a previous 12-month program with a new 15-month curriculum in the School of Nursing for non-nurse college graduates to be educated as registered nurses with master’s degrees.
The new curriculum, called Masters Direct Entry (MDE), is aimed at future caregivers and researchers. The university is one of the first in the country to adopt new recommendations from the American Association of Colleges of Nursing that all new advanced practice nursing students should graduate with a doctoral degree. Columbia’s introduction of the MDE program is just one part of many changes occurring in the School of Nursing. The inaugural MDE class will begin this June, followed by Columbia students in nurse practitioner or nurse midwife programs being required to graduate with a doctor of nursing practice degree (DNP) starting next year, and students in the nurse anesthesia program being required to receive clinical doctorates beginning in 2019.
All of these new requirements are being put in place as changes in populations and healthcare delivery continue to occur. People are now living longer, largely due to the fact that chronic diseases that used to be fatal can now be managed long term for many patients. Because chronic diseases require complex care, hospitals need advanced nurses with expert knowledge to support these complicated patient needs. Hospital environments are adopting new technology, and requiring that care be coordinated through a patient’s entire hospital experience, including between the hospital and home. There is also a need to reduce health care costs while still maintaining the best patient care possible, and masters-level education will allow nursing graduates to be fully prepared for the growing demands of their quickly evolving profession.
At the end of the 15-month MDE program, the advanced nurse graduates will sit for the NCLEX and be given the option to become an advanced practice nurse by moving directly into Columbia’s 33-month DNP program or obtain a doctorate in nursing research (PhD). The new MDE curriculum focuses on evidence-based practice as a central part of being a nurse in today’s healthcare environment, focusing on research, interpreting data, and constantly applying new findings to practice. There will also be a large focus on coordination, teaching nursing students how to facilitate patient care from one healthcare environment to another. A third theme of the program will address how to provide culturally and religiously sensitive care.
Columbia’s School of Nursing has been a leader in clinical education since it first opened, and the MDE program will build on their long history of leadership, compassion, and excellent education. Education is power and the more students know, the better they can care for patients and improve delivery of care.
