Strategic Domains

The Nurse Practitioner Healthcare Foundation is focused on six strategic domains that inform the choices the foundation makes regarding projects and initiatives.  These strategic domains are:

Promoting Health

Female_Clinician_w_Female_Patient.jpg Prevention and health promotion are the hallmarks of nurse practitioner practice.  NPs seek to prevent illness and provide their patients with the information and skills they need to lead healthy lives.  The NPHF supports the NP community in the area of promoting health through professional development, practice tools, patient education materials, awards for innovative healthcare projects and advancing public policy.

Advancing Education

Nurse Practitioners must stay abreast of the latest advances in clinical practice and research in order to provide quality care.  NPHF supports education to keep NPs on the leading edge of practice and professional advancement by providing continuing education (CE) and other educational materials for NPs.  The NPHF also seeks funding for scholarships and fellowships to further training opportunities for those who wish to become NPs or those seeking other advanced nursing degrees.

Fostering Best Practices

Girl_with_Clinician_2.jpg Evidence-based practice utilizes the best available research to inform clinical practice, leading to improved patient outcomes.  It is a problem-solving approach that integrates critical appraisal of relevant evidence and patient goals to individualize each patient's plan of care.  The NPHF is working to foster best practices in healthcare delivery through its support of NP and patient education, health policy, and recognition of innovative research projects in clinical practice.

Stimulating Innovation

Steve Jobs once said "I want to put a ding in the universe."  He was speaking about innovations - those creative ideas, big or small, that have the potential to make huge impact.  Believing that "an idea shared can change the world," the NPHF supports the generation of new ideas and the creative vision that leads to a significant change in healthcare.  Through programs such as Care Challenge, our Trenton/Newark Health Centers Feasibility Study, and our Award Programs, NPHF strives to address real healthcare problems through innovative nursing solutions.

Developing Leadership

Leadership is fundamental to advancing the nursing profession and to advancing healthcare in the U.S.  Whether at the bedside, or in the board room, it is essential that NPs/nurses become "full partners" in shaping health policy to improve care. (IOM, 2011). The NPHF supports the development of remarkable leaders – those who embody the awareness, decisiveness, empathy, accountability, confidence, optimism, honesty, focus, and ability to inspire – that is required to transform the healthcare system of today into the effective, efficient, and compassionate system needed for the future.

IOM, 2011.  The Future of Nursing:  Leading Change, Advancing Health, Washington, DC:  The National Academies Press.

Expanding Diversity

NJ Project pic 6 16 from PZ.jpg Providing healthcare for a diverse world of patients and communities requires a diverse workforce that understands and embraces multiple cultures and perspectives.  Building relationships with a wide variety of professional and patient organizations, educational entities, civic groups, and policy/governmental agencies that foster innovation, collaboration, breadth of vision, and leadership is critical to providing high quality, accessible care.  Enhancing the diversity of the nurse practitioner workforce, eliminating health disparities, promoting access to care, and developing delivery systems that ensure appropriate care for a multi-cultural and diverse population are goals of NPHF.