NANNP Corner

NANNP Membership

Bobby Bellflower, DNSc NNP-BC FAANP
NANNP Council Chair

Are you a member of the National Association of Neonatal Nurse Practitioners (NANNP)? If not, consider joining. Do you know that NANNP represents neonatal advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs), specifically neonatal nurse practitioners (NNPs) and neonatal clinical nurse specialists (CNSs)? NANNP is the unified voice of neonatal APRNs and provides essential information on the neonatal APRN workforce and professional issues.

NANNP leverages the leadership, expertise, and community of its volunteer members to provide support for neonatal APRNs. An example of leadership is developing and updating the NNP Educational and Curriculum Guidelines for NNP Programs (currently undergoing revision and updating via a recently appointed national task force). The document is the guideline for the curriculum for Neonatal Nurse Practitioner (NNP) programs and specifies NNP competencies—an essential document for all NNPs. National representation on the L.A.C.E. national workgroup, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), and National Organization of Nurse Practitioner (NONPF) workgroups provide neonatal APRNs with representation nationally, so the neonatal APRN voice is heard. The National Task Force on the Standards of Nurse Practitioner Education, 6th Edition issued a revised document addressing quality education for nurse practitioners in April 2022. NANNP, representing neonatal APRNs, was one of 19 organizations that helped develop, update, and endorse educational requirements for nurse practitioners (NONPF, 2022). In 2011, NANN/NANNP published clinical guidelines on treating hypotension in newborns. That guideline was retired in 2021, and new guidelines for treating cardiac insufficiency in newborns were published in Pediatrics in February 2022. The lead authors were Jay Goldsmith, MD, and Erin Keels, DNP, NNP-BC. NANN is cited as the original source of the guidelines with updated research and recommendations. NANNP has relationships with the American Association of Nurse Practitioners (AANP), the National Council on State Boards of Nursing, and the AAP.

NANNP taps into the expertise of volunteer members by asking them to serve on task forces and special committees. APRNs often lead committees in writing clinical practice guidelines. NANNP members lead the APRN Summit at the NANN annual conference. And NANNP members are currently working on a new video for recruitment and retention of neonatal APRNs. Other areas of expertise include developing, administering, analyzing, and disseminating the results of workforce surveys of NNPs. The 2020 workforce survey executive summary was published in Advances in Neonatal Care in 2021 (Snapp et al., 2021). Secondary analysis of the information revealed some vital information on NNP well-being, and it has been submitted for publication.

NANNP members have a MyNANN community specifically for NANNP members. In this community, neonatal APRNs discuss clinical practice, clinical education, workforce practices, and professional issues that pertain to APRNs. NANNP also presents awards to exceptional NNPs and rising star NNPs. The APRN Summit at the annual NANN conference provides a place for networking with other APRNs.

Recently, I was asked, “What do I get for being a member of NANNP”? NANNP members have all of the member benefits of NANN membership plus other benefits specifically for APRNs. Some of those extra benefits include:

• Opportunities to work on national task forces and workgroups
• Position statements and professional documents specifically for APRNs
• Private online discussion group (NANNP membership)
• $10 off AANP membership 
• Access to neonatal APRN experts that are happy to network
• An additional 5% on NANN products

Over the past year, your NANNP Council has been busy. The 2020 NNP Workforce team published the Executive Summary in 2021 and has submitted the second article for publication. Several position statements have been revised, reaffirmed, or are in the revision process. One has been retired. Several liaisons to national committees have been instrumental in developing practice guidelines or documents. An example is the Recognition and Management of Cardiovascular Insufficiency in the Very Low Birth Weight Newborn article (Goldsmith & Keels, 2022). The NNP who is a liaison to the AAP Committee on Fetus and Newborn contributed to the article. The Standards for Quality Nurse Practitioner Standards, 6th Edition, was published in April 2022. NANNP had a representative who was a leader in revising the educational standards. The NANNP representative participated from 2019 to 2022. NANNP requested to develop a quarterly podcast via NANNCast specifically for APRNs. The first one was on the recruitment and retention of neonatal APRNs in December 2021. The NANN Faculty Special Interest Group (SIG) participated in the NANNCast. Other podcasts will have experts talk about specific pathophysiology and professional development issues. One podcast will discuss the workforce survey and its analysis. A NANNP workgroup is working on developing a new, updated video about neonatal APRNs.

Although this is a sampling of the work NANNP completed over the past 6-12 months, it is only a small sample, and there is much left to do. If you are a neonatal APRN, we would love for you to join NANNP. There are many opportunities to volunteer and serve.

If you have questions, comments, or suggestions, feel free to email me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. 

Sincerely,

Bobby Bellflower

References

Goldsmith, J. P., & Keels, E. (2022). Recognition and Management of Cardiovascular Insufficiency in the Very Low Birth Weight Newborn. Pediatrics, 149(3), e2021056051.

National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties and American Association of Colleges of Nursing. (2022). Standards for Quality Nurse Practitioner Education, 6th Edition, A Report of the National Task Force on Quality Nurse Practitioner Education. https://www.nonpf.org/page/NTFStandards.

Snapp, B., Moore, T. A., Wallman, C., & Staebler, S. (2021). 2020 Neonatal Nurse Practitioner Workforce Survey: An Executive Summary. Advances in neonatal care:official journal of the National Association of Neonatal Nurses, 21(3), 242–246. https://doi.org/10.1097/ANC.0000000000000903

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