Implementation of a Standardized National HIV Curriculum in a Primary Care Nurse Practitioner Program

Curriculum and Competency Guidelines for the Advanced Care Practitioner in Infectious Disease

Background

Changes in the health care delivery system have altered the way internal medicine (IM) is practiced, with inclusion of subspecialty advanced care practitioners (ACPs) as vital members of the health care team.

Methods

ACPs are provided the clinical settings and educational resources within an academic center to become competent in recognizing and managing common and complicated infectious diseases (ID). The ID ACP will be given progressive responsibility with expectations for achievement of milestones as they develop into competent practitioners. We seek to ensure quality, cost-effective, and comprehensive patient-centered care on the ID service in the inpatient and ambulatory settings in compliance with national standards and scope of practice recommendations and regulations.

Results

In recognition of the expanding role of ACPs, we developed a curriculum and guidelines in the subspecialty of ID.

Conclusions

Our proposal greatly adds to the available literature for ACPs to provide the full spectrum of ID practice.

Changes in HIV knowledge and interest among nursing and public health students at a large Midwest University: Outcomes of implementing the National HIV Curriculum

BACKGROUND

Ending the HIV epidemic requires additional healthcare and public health workers who are competent in HIV prevention and treatment. The National HIV Curriculum was developed to increase competency in HIV among healthcare workers in the US.

OBJECTIVES

The purpose of the current study was to examine the impact of implementing the National HIV Curriculum (NHC) for nursing and public health students.

DESIGN

This study employed a single-arm, cohort intervention design.

SETTING

This study was conducted at large, public university in the Midwestern United States of America in a state noted for high HIV transmission.

PARTICIPANTS

Undergraduate nursing, graduate nursing, and undergraduate public health students participated in this study.

METHODS

An online survey of nursing and public health students was conducted following implementation of the NHC at a large, public university in the Midwest. Students were assessed on knowledge and interest of HIV using a bootstrapped paired-samples t-test approach.

RESULTS

Participants (N = 175) were enrolled in the undergraduate nursing program (n = 72, 41.14 %), graduate nursing (n = 37, 21.14 %) public health (n = 37, 21.14 %), medicine (n = 10, 5.71 %), and biological, biomedical, and health sciences discipline (n = 19, 10.86 %). Overall, results suggest a consistent gain in knowledge of working with individuals living with HIV of 1.42 points (on a 4-point scale). About half (47.43 %) of all students increased interest to work with individuals living with HIV in the future.

CONCLUSION

The NHC increased knowledge and interest in students across a broad range of nursing, public health, medicine, and other disciplines. This study suggests that universities can integrate the curriculum across undergraduate and graduate programs. Students at varying degree levels may benefit from the NHC. Future longitudinal studies should be conducted on the career choices of those students exposed to the NHC.