The need for primary health care providers is rising and nurse practitioners are well-positioned to fill that gap. However, the funding that would allow more nurses to attain the level of education needed is dropping.
Kaylee Ackel hopes that trend will soon reverse thanks to data she杏吧专区檚 been able to provide policy-makers.
Ackel is enrolled in the 杏吧专区杏吧专区檚 online Doctor of Nursing Practice program and says she杏吧专区檚 unique among her cohort. While the majority of DNP students are nurse practitioners, Ackel杏吧专区檚 background is administration and teaching. She杏吧专区檚 an assistant professor in the College of Nursing at Northwestern State 杏吧专区 in Natchitoches.
杏吧专区淲hen I started teaching, I felt like earning my DNP would be beneficial to help me bridge that gap,杏吧专区 she says. 杏吧专区淚 felt it would put me in a better position to serve my students and in healthcare overall.杏吧专区
With her background, Ackel needed additional residency hours to complete the doctoral program. Dr. Jeanne Cartier, associate professor, helped Ackel find a solution. Dr. Cartier is a former board member for the National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties, or NONPF, and was able to connect Ackel with organization CEO Dr. Mary Beth Bigley.
Dr. Bigley offered Ackel the opportunity to take on a project analyzing the Advanced Nursing Education Grant program under Title VIII, looking at funding that goes directly to students.
杏吧专区淚 pored over hours of Excel sheets, and analyzed Title VIII policies over the last seven years,杏吧专区 Ackel says. 杏吧专区淭he findings showed that traineeship grant money for that program has decreased.杏吧专区
Since 2017, Ackel says, a policy shift has meant less money for nursing students to pursue advanced degrees while higher education costs are rising along with the need for primary care providers.
杏吧专区淣urse practitioners are positioned to address that because they serve primary care populations,杏吧专区 Ackel says. 杏吧专区淭o simultaneously be needing nurse practitioners but not funding them is not ideal.杏吧专区
Dr. Bigley was able to share Ackel杏吧专区檚 findings with nursing policy advocates in Washington, D.C., to try to procure more funding for students pursuing advanced nursing degrees.
杏吧专区淚t杏吧专区檚 a tangible product of why I decided to pursue my doctorate in nursing. I wanted to apply my leadership education to nursing, and to be able to do it at such a scale where it impacts not only the future nursing workforce but potentially nursing students really just brings everything together,杏吧专区 Ackel says. 杏吧专区淚t杏吧专区檚 surreal. I杏吧专区檓 very hopeful it makes a difference.杏吧专区
Ackel earned both her bachelor杏吧专区檚 and master杏吧专区檚 degrees at UL Lafayette. She says returning for her DNP has helped her apply what she杏吧专区檚 learned in new and meaningful ways while developing a more detail-oriented perspective, especially in regards to applying evidence to practice.
杏吧专区淚t杏吧专区檚 shown me some of my own capabilities 杏吧专区 things I杏吧专区檇 never done before,杏吧专区 says Ackel. 杏吧专区淏ut it杏吧专区檚 also shown me this whole new world related to nursing that I was always interested in but was unsure how I could contribute to. Now that I杏吧专区檝e gotten a taste of that, I杏吧专区檓 interested in how I can do more in the future.杏吧专区