Partnership Increases Number of Nurse Practitioners

Through an academic-practice partnership, Children’s Hospital New Orleans and Louisiana State University Health New Orleans School of Nursing in 2016 developed the first pediatric nurse practitioner Doctor of Nursing Practice degree program in Louisiana. Students selected for the program received tuition support from Children’s Hospital New Orleans in return for a three-year employment commitment after graduation. The program’s leaders noted that the partnership provides a steady stream of highly trained nurse practitioners, increases access to care and expands the breadth of specialized care. They suggested that academic-practice partnerships could help to resolve workforce, research and professional nursing development issues. The article is in the July Voice of Nursing Leadership, which is devoted to academic-practice issues.