FIGURE
If you search the Internet for nurse practitioner, you'll discover that every day several NPs are quoted or mentioned in various media. At more than 111,000 NPs strong in the United States today, we are an ever-present force.
Things weren't always this way. Advances in scope of practice, reimbursement, and prescriptive authority are testimony to the trails that we've truly blazed. At the November 2003 National Conference for Nurse Practitioners in Baltimore, Md., a prestigious five member NP panel took time to "Honor Our Rich Past, Our Exciting Future." Here, one of the greatest honors of my 30-year NP career was awarding Loretta C. Ford, EdD, RN, PNP, FAAN, a Lifetime Achievement Award for cofounding our profession.
I'm proud to recall that The Nurse Practitioner 's first issue in September/October 1975 featured an interview with Dr. Ford. When asked how the NP "program" came about, she responded with this favorite quote:
"You have to look back at the social forces both within and outside of the profession at that time ... Civil rights opened the issue of rights to health care and rights of access to care for specific groups, particularly the minorities and the poor. A concurrent concern at the time was the health manpower crisis. There weren't enough nurses or doctors. The abuse and misuse of the nurse became obvious. Nurses were doing so many things. Mainly, they were nursing the system, nursing the doctors, nursing the desk, nursing everything else but the patients! So we began looking at what nurses were doing. Very few people were looking at what physicians were doing. We chose to look at how we could alter the nurse's role to make her accountable to patients, not accountable to physicians."
Thankfully, NPs continue to honor Dr. Ford and capture essential aspects of our history. Dr. Ford is interviewed extensively in an important video designed to preserve our important heritage. 1 Additionally, a terrific new book captures important recent nursing history, including the development of the NP role:2
"The book highlights Dr. Ford's studies on the nurse's expanded scope of practice in her specialty of public health nursing as leading to the creation of the first pediatric nurse practitioner model of advanced practice at the University of Colorado Medical. Ford reminds us that the Chinese symbol for crisis and opportunity are one and the same. The NP movement is an example of Ford and Silver seeking innovative and creative solutions to address a health care crisis, while others stood still. Second, she has always heeded her call to 'Get to the table and be a player or someone who doesn't understand nursing will do that for you.'
"During the NP journey, Ford repeatedly found herself in a David and Goliath relationship with those who wished to thwart the NP role. According to Ford, there were plenty of political "players" who would have been delighted to take nursing's seat at the table; however, the battles were won because nurses were at the table and patients were the focus."
We are blessed as a profession to still be guided by this wise, amazing leader! Dr. Ford's commitment to NP education remains among her highest priorities.
Mark your calendars now for our 2004 NCNP educational conference, again in Baltimore, Md., October 27 to 30, as we celebrate "Promoting Nurse Practitioner Excellence." E-mail [email protected] to receive future brochure mailings.
REFERENCES