The Role of the PNP

Our thanks to Professional Issues Chair Rosemary Liguori, PhD, CPNP for providing the answer to this question.

Question: I recently joined a private pediatric practice and I have to continually explain my role. I am amazed how little the families know about PNPs. How can I educate families about the role?

Answer: It is surprising that after 40 years, people are still not thoroughly informed about the role of the PNP in some areas of the country. When I started as a PNP in the early 1970s, we really kept a low profile. However as the role has evolved, and the numbers of certified PNPs has grown, we are more visible and vocal. Many families have a great deal of respect for PNPs, frequently seeking PNPs as the preferred health care provider for their children.

When a PNP enters a new practice setting, there are many marketing strategies that may be applied by the practice. Some suggestions are:

• Have business cards with your title and credentials;
• Announce your arrival to the practice in the local newspapers;
• In each exam room and waiting room, have a printed sheet announcing your credentials, a short biography, and a picture posted before your arrival to the practice;
• Have your name placed on the door with credentials;
• Place copies of NAPNAP's Why a PNP is Right for your Child brochure, which may be ordered online at www.napnap.org/shop;
• Have an open house to introduce you and your role.

As you become accepted by the families, children and the community, you can expand your visibility by offering workshops, seminars, or presentations for groups, such as the Head Start Program, schools and educational days, PTA meetings, early intervention groups, Mothers Club, Parents of Gifted children, and/or community college programs. Some concepts that may be offered are:

• CPR
• Safety
• ADD and Behavioral Problems
• Asthma
• Immunizations
• The hottest health concerns
• Rashes
• Parenting Issues
• Childbirth classes

Of course, this does not happen all at once or overnight. It takes times and commitment. Often, the service may need to be provided for free or for a nominal honorarium. But, the important issue is that you are gaining exposure to many people, who are appreciating the depth and breadth of the PNP role. These strategies recruit new patients into a practice as well marketing the PNP role.

Another avenue to market oneself is through the media. Publish articles in newspapers and consumer journals and appear on TV and/or radio. NAPNAP suggests two websites that will assist you in writing for lay journals and professional journals: Promoting.aspx and www.npcentral.net/mc/media.training.shtml.

For those of you in Primary Care settings, topics that interest families are parenting strategies, toilet training, the crying baby, sleep, nutrition, how not to spoil a baby, discipline, and/or school problems. For those of you in acute care or specialized practice, gather a list of topics from your individual patients to personalize your practice. Writing a column in your local newspaper is also a potential tool.

Approach TV stations' health reporters to offer your expertise on health and safety subjects and offer to answer questions on the air. Many times a local TV station seeks an expert. A highlight for me was when a TV station invited me to speak about grandmothers raising grandchildren. After quite a bit of research, and overcoming a case of butterflies in the stomach, (as well as looking twenty pounds heavier), it went off without a hitch. Since, my grandmother raised me after the death of my mother; I knew first hand about the beauty and love that a grandmother gives to you when you are grieving and alone as a child.

A local radio station contacted me as a PNP in private practice to speak on the need for immunizations in children. Another radio host interviewed me on ADD in children and the use of medication. It was fun, and the public was educated about important issues and the role of the PNP. People were very kind! If you are not contacted, you can solicit the PR staffs of radio and TV stations. Don't wait around to be asked. Be assertive and explore all possibilities.

Another suggestion is to educate parents about PNPs is to create a lending library in your office. Books geared to different levels of understanding by the children on topics such as death and dying, getting along with siblings, toilet training, going to the hospital or becoming a big brother/sister may make a lasting impression on the new families you see. In all the years of this concept, only a handful of books were lost. Books for parents were also available. Topics focused on discipline, feeding, sleeping, temper tantrums, growth and development.

Volunteering at health fairs, church and community immunization drives. Performing physicals for the Head Start programs, or organizing a KySSSM walk-a-thon further spreads understanding of the PNP role in the community.

To gain community recognition as a PNP, offer to serve on local boards or organizations such as the American Heart Association, Kidney Foundation or American Cancer Society. On the state level, network to serve on Boards of Health, Physician Manpower, Community Service organizations, AHEC, Immunization, Child Abuse, and/or Rural health bodies. All these suggestions may occur over many years, so don't run out and try them all right a way. In time, you will grow in your role and parents will get to know you.