An important aspect of the National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculty's (NONPF) mission is to assist faculty in their professional development. Educators, including preceptors, who instruct nurse practitioner (NP) students have a unique opportunity and special responsibility to help improve the quality of teaching and learning. The NONPF offers many opportunities for faculty development through the resources available on their website, webinars, activities of the Faculty Development Committee, mentoring, and the Annual Conference.
Educational resources
The NONPF's website (http://www.nonpf.com/) contains an Educational Resources section where one can find useful materials such as publications and reports. Publications include Advanced Nursing Practice: Building Curriculum for Quality Nurse Practitioner Education, which highlights recommended curriculum for NP programs. Another online NONPF publication, Criteria for Evaluation of Nurse Practitioner Programs: Report of the National Task Force on Quality Nurse Practitioner Education presents national standards for NP programs (a new edition is in development).
Available reports include "Integrating Community Health Nurse Practitioner Education and Psychiatric Mental Health Strategies into Curriculum," "Guidelines for Distance Learning in Nurse Practitioner Education," "Writing a Research Grant," and "Technology Strategies." The NONPF also has several documents available designed to help NPs prepare for Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) programs.
The Faculty Development Committee
The Faculty Development Committee provides leadership for the Annual Conference. In addition, it provides programs that emphasize the advancement of the faculty role in areas such as innovation in teaching, promoting diversity; and scholarship within teaching, practices, and research. Faculty Development Committee members also mentor participants as they develop and submit abstracts to the Annual Conference.
Another aspect of the committee's work is keeping the Preceptorship Manual up-to-date. The committee also has published material that compares mentoring to precepting; and also discusses mentoring NP students, NP faculty, and future leaders for the NP profession.
Member benefits
The NONPF's website offers members many opportunities to interact and receive support. One of these opportunities is the member's ability to submit questions regarding teaching, learning, and/or curriculum development to "Ask NONPF." All questions are forwarded and responded to by the appropriate NONPF member(s).
Periodically, the NONPF presents webinars. These webinars cover a variety of topics including the application of socialization theory in curriculum design, and the application of theory to competency development.
The Annual Conference is held in April every year. It offers a wide array of presentations that largely contribute to faculty development. Topics vary each year. For instance, the 2011 Conference offered preconference sessions on pharmacology, setting up an international experience, and transitioning to adult-gerontology APRN Education. At the Leadership Breakfast a co-program director of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Nurse Executive Fellows Program shared her experiences on developing a leadership trajectory. Examples of conference session topics include developing DNP programs, interprofessional education, student evaluation, policy issues, preparing faculty scholars by using simulation, electronic health records, academic partnerships, genetics, and distance education.
Another opportunity for members of the NONPF is for joining Special Interest Groups such as Academic Nursing Center, Acute Care, Distance Learning, Gerontological, International, Program Directors, Psychiatric-Mental Health, Research, and Sexual and Reproductive Health.
The NONPF offers members invaluable opportunities for professional growth through both electronic and in-person activities. These activities all facilitate NP faculty development for both academic faculty and preceptors.