Improving Health-Care Quality Through an AFPNP National Nursing Education Collaborative to Strengthen PNP Curriculum in Mental/Behavioral Health and EBP: Lessons Learned From Academic Faculty and Clinical Preceptors

In 2004, the Association of Faculty of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners was awarded a grant by the Commonwealth Fund to plan, implement, and evaluate a strengthened national curriculum for students in 20 pediatric nurse practitioner programs throughout the United States. Curricular changes focused on increasing the knowledge and skills of students in the area of evidence-based mental and behavioral health care for children and adolescents. The processes through which this national initiative was undertaken were described in "Strengthening PNP Curricula in Mental/Behavioral Health and Evidence-Based Practice" (B. M. Melnyk et al., 2010). This article focuses on the important perspectives of academic faculty and clinical preceptors and provides critical insight for nursing faculty when planning implementation of significant curricular change. The purpose of this descriptive study was to determine the challenges and facilitators of implementing a strengthened curriculum in didactic and clinical courses to inform nationwide dissemination of this curriculum to all PNP programs throughout the country. Confidential, structured, individual telephone interviews were conducted with academic and clinical preceptors from the schools that had participated in the implementation study. Curricular change presents challenges in most schools of nursing and will be affected by characteristics unique to each institution. Faculty need to be educated regarding the factors that are likely to enhance the process of making important and timely changes in curriculum. Finally, valuable lessons regarding the necessary early engagement of clinical preceptors should inform future curricular change initiatives.