Impact Of Post-graduate Orthopedic Assessment Education On New Graduate Nurse Practitioner Residents: A Quality Improvement Project

Abstract

New graduate nurse practitioners (NPs) undergo a particularly challenging year immediately following graduation as they transition from students to seasoned healthcare professionals. Research suggests that new graduate NPs lack the preparation, confidence, and competence to perform their duties in an efficient manner leading to less-than-optimal outcomes for patients. Low back pain, as one of the most common complaints faced in primary care, is an area where new graduate NPs have been reported to lack confidence in their assessment skills. A quick yet thorough clinical assessment of back pain can result in an accurate and timely diagnosis, symptom control, and better communication with other healthcare professionals while at the same time eliminating unnecessary medical negligence claims. The goal of this project was to provide the NPs undergoing their NP residency at a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) with educational seminars to educate them on how to provide an efficient and thorough musculoskeletal assessment for patients presenting with a chief complaint of low back pain. The NP residents were then asked to fill out both pre-implementation and post-implementation questionnaires to determine whether the seminars improved the residents’ levels of confidence and, competence and enabled them to communicate with other healthcare professionals more effectively. The data gathered prior to and following the educational seminars provided ample evidence that continuing education about musculoskeletal assessment can better equip new graduate NPs to provide better assessments, more accurate and detailed diagnosis, and improved communication with other healthcare professionals.