As an association in its fifth decade, the National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners (NAPNAP) is rich in history and experience when it comes to advanced practice nursing and children’s health care. Our publications include a variety of communications such as position statements, white papers and official statements as well as our professional peer-reviewed journal and books. We also support position statements and other documents written by partner organizations.Â
In addition, stay up to date on our news and press releases.
About NAPNAP Communications
We’ve developed guidance on how our association formulates our positions and communications so members better understand the development and approval process. Please read our frequently asked questions and answers below.Â
- Position statement: NAPNAP publishes position statements, which are concise, Executive Board-approved statements describing the association’s philosophy or point of view on a specific issue. Statements are often related to one or more of the following areas: clinical practice, health policy, or patient advocacy.
- White paper: A NAPNAP white paper is a document that is informational and objective yet still persuasive and is developed to explain or highlight a broad and complex issue. It seeks to achieve the level of thought on a topic at a leadership level. It has a definite point of view and may propose one or more solutions to the issue examined. A white paper is well researched, data driven and factual, and examines trends and some or all of the economic, professional, sociological and other influences that must be considered to support the recommendations and conclusions. Ultimately it seeks to define the topic/issue/market space and then, using facts and conclusions, argue or advocate for a specific solution. It seeks to both educate and influence the audience.
- Official statement: NAPNAP official statements on timely topics will help put the organization and our members in the news and will allow us to respond quickly to relevant stories and social media. The statements will have the added benefit of providing guidance to members on key issues affecting pediatric-focused advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs), the APRN profession and child health. Official statements can be defined as approved topical and opinion-based statements used in either proactive or reactive media situations.
- It addresses a new idea or topic that has not been addressed by the National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners.
- It is not a simple restatement of another organization’s position. There should be a compelling reason that our organization should have its own statement.
- It contributes to the body of evidence or clinical practice in some way.
- It clearly demonstrates a perspective that is unique to pediatric-focused APRNs.
- The issue is clearly owned by pediatric-focused APRNs.
- Background information, including relevant publications and research, current or pending legislation and regulations related to the issue, and pertinent position statements from other organizations.
- When reviewing background information for the proposal, care should be taken to review the original source material to ensure it is timely and relevant. The proposer must include information related to what type of research and the highest level of evidence that is available to support the statement. The appropriate level of evidence will depend on the topic to be addressed.
- NAPNAP recommends using the following rating system for the levels of evidence:
Rating System for the Hierarchy of Evidence: Quantitative Questions- Level I: Evidence from a systematic review of all relevant randomized controlled trials (RCT’s), or evidence-based clinical practice guidelines based on systematic reviews of RCT’s
- Level II: Evidence obtained from at least one well-designed Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT)
- Level III: Evidence obtained from well-designed controlled trials without randomization, quasi-experimental
- Level IV: Evidence from well-designed case-control and cohort studies
- Level V: Evidence from systematic reviews of descriptive and qualitative studies
- Level VI: Evidence from a single descriptive or qualitative study
- Level VII: Evidence from the opinion of authorities and/or reports of expert committees.
Above information from Melnyk, B. M. & Fineout-Overholt, E. (2018). Evidence-based Practice in Nursing & Healthcare: A Guide to Best Practice, 4th edition.
- References should be evidence-based, research-focused primary sources and not lay websites. Cited website data should be current and from original sources.
- References should be in APA format and should be published within the last five years unless they are considered seminal articles.Â
- Check to ensure that the original source material and original website sources are correct and pertinent.
- All content should be original written work unless quoted and referenced appropriately.
- Authors should have expertise on the topic but are encouraged to use minimal or no self-citation unless the reference meets the reference criteria (see FAQ above).
- Watch out for unintentional plagiarism and self-plagiarism. All new position statements and white papers are run through a plagiarism software program.
- Be familiar with Elsevier’s publishing ethics and follow their ethical guidelines for journal publishing.
- First discuss it informally with the appropriate executive board member-at-large (ML) and/or staff liaison to get input.
- If the idea/concept is determined to be acceptable, complete a NAPNAP New Position Statement Request Form, which will be presented to the NAPNAP Executive Board (EB) for approval to move forward with full development and writing.
- National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioner staff can assist with recruiting members for the writing group, communicating with the writing group and setting up conference calls if needed.
- NAPNAP’s president will assign an Executive Board (EB) member-at-large (ML) to serve as the EB liaison to the writing group. The EB liaison will be involved in the development and ongoing guidance of the position statement but is not required to actively participate or write the statement. The responsibility and charge of the EB liaison is to ensure that the content and direction of the position statement reflects the views and vision of the EB and the association. The EB liaison may provide input, feedback or recommendations as needed at any time during the development of the statement.
- When the final draft is complete, it will be peer reviewed and evaluated. Staff will invite relevant members from the TeamPeds Volunteers network to review and evaluate the proposed position statement using the NAPNAP Position Statement Evaluation Form and decide if it should be presented to the EB for approval.
- If additional writing and/or editing assistance is needed, staff can request a member of the editorial review panel to assist with editing the statement further.