A decade of faculty development for health professions educators: lessons learned from the Macy Faculty Scholars Program.

Faculty development (FD) programs are critical for providing the knowledge and skills necessary to drive positive change in health professions education, but they take many forms to attain the program goals. The Macy Faculty Scholars Program (MFSP), created by the Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation (JMJF) in 2010, intends to develop participants as leaders, scholars, teachers, and mentors.

The Patient Experience and Patient Satisfaction: Measurement of a Complex Dynamic.

The concept of patient experience is surprisingly complex and generally linked with patient satisfaction. As reimbursement and performance policies have become more normative within healthcare, the patient experience has become a metric to measure payment systems for quality. However, we still have much to learn about the concept of patient experience and its influence on how patients report satisfaction with their care.

A collaborative communitywide health fair: the process and impacts on the community.

The purpose of this article is to describe the process of conducting a collaborative communitywide health fair, and the impacts of such health intervention programs on community members. A community health fair addresses the health access needs of underserved populations. The success or effectiveness of such community-based programs requires systematic approach to assessment, planning, implementation, and evaluation.

Nurse practitioners as primary care providers: creating favorable practice environments in New York State and Massachusetts.

Background: Policy makers, health care organizations, and health professionals are calling for the expansion of the nurse practitioner (NP) workforce in primary care to ensure access to high-quality, cost-effective care. However, to date, little is known about NP practice environments in primary care settings and how they may affect the expansion of this workforce and their practice.

Purposes: The aims of this study were to investigate NP practice environments in two states, Massachusetts (MA) and New York State (NY), and determine the impact of state and organization on NP practice environment.

Using an academic-community partnership model and blended learning to advance community health nursing pedagogy.

This article describes a model of teaching community health nursing that evolved from a long-term partnership with a community with limited existing health programs. The partnership supported RN-BSN students' integration in the community and resulted in reciprocal gains for faculty, students and community members. Community clients accessed public health services as a result of the partnership.

Revisiting scope of practice facilitators and barriers for primary care nurse practitioners: a qualitative investigation.

Revisiting scope of practice (SOP) policies for nurse practitioners (NPs) is necessary in the evolving primary care environment with goals to provide timely access, improve quality, and contain cost. This study utilized qualitative descriptive design to investigate NP roles and responsibilities as primary care providers (PCPs) in Massachusetts and their perceptions about barriers and facilitators to their SOP. Through purposive sampling, 23 NPs were recruited and they participated in group and individual interviews in spring 2011.

Nurse practitioner workforce: a substantial supply of primary care providers.

For about 5 decades, nurse practitioners (NPs) have been utilized to deliver primary care, traditionally in underserved areas or to vulnerable populations. However, over the years, this workforce has experienced a steady growth and has expanded its reach to provide primary care in diverse settings. An additional 32 million patients will have access to primary care with full implementation of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

Older adults' home- and community-based care service use and residential transitions: a longitudinal study.

Background: As Home-and Community-Based Services (HCBS), such as skilled nursing services or personal care services, have become increasingly available, it has become clear that older adults transit through different residential statuses over time. Older adults may transit through different residential statuses as the various services meet their needs. The purpose of this exploratory study was to better understand the interplay between community-dwelling older adults' use of home- and community-based services and their residential transitions.