Highlighting pediatric nurse practitioners

Jessica Peck, DNP, APRN, CPNP-PC, CNE, CNL, FAANP, FAAN:

My name is Jessica Peck and I am a pediatric nurse practitioner. I'm a professor at Baylor University, and I'm past president of the National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners.

Contemporary Pediatrics®:

So, can you discuss the importance of nurse practitioners in the pediatric healthcare community?

Peck:

Absolutely, the importance of pediatric nurse practitioners in the pediatric health community cannot be understated. PNPs and pediatric-focused advanced practice nurses are an essential part of the health care team that cares for children. We have a holistic mindset, so we care for children's minds, bodies, and spirits. And we also have a focus on prevention. We want to help children when they're sick, but even more importantly, we want to keep them safe, prevent them from getting injured and keep them healthy, keep them from getting sick, and help optimize their health and work with their families to do that.

Contemporary Pediatrics®:

And why do you think NAPNAP is such an important organization?

Peck:

NAPNAP is the oldest and the first nurse practitioner organization in the world. The nurse practitioner role originated from a public health nurse named Loretta Ford, and a pediatrician named Dr. Henry Silver. And those 2 collaborated together to create the pediatric nurse practitioner role, which was actually the first in P role. And so that is what came together to form the National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners. We continue to be the only advanced practice organization dedicated to optimizing child health.

Contemporary Pediatrics®:

So what sessions are you attending and why?

Peck:

There are so many sessions to choose from, it's very difficult to do. Some of the sessions I've attended or plan to attend are really exciting. So, one of the initiatives that NAPNAP has are called NAPNAP Partners for Vulnerable Youth. We have three alliances within NAPNAP partners, one for at to prevent the trafficking of children, one to prevent youth suicide, and one to care for children who are in foster care systems. And so, they have sessions throughout the conference presented by champions from those alliances, and so I definitely will be attending those. We also have a live stream of NAPNAP’s podcast, Team Peds Talks, we have a special series going on right now called 50 Forward, Forging Our Future where we're talking about the future of all things pediatric health. And in this case, we talked about the future of NAPNAP partners. That podcast has over 50,000 downloads in 18 countries. So that's really exciting. We also had a session talking about our survey that Dr. Jennifer Sonney, the current president, and I did to assess the state of the pediatric advanced practice workforce post-COVID. And those results are very sobering, but it gives us important information going forward on how we can support our profession. There are also sessions on antibiotic resistance and acute care, primary care, neonatal care, you name it, we've got it, and it's really difficult to choose each time.

Contemporary Pediatrics®:

So what should what will be the most important takeaways for health care providers?

Peck:

I think the most important takeaways for health care providers from this conference are to know that we see you, we hear you and we feel your worry, we feel the anxiety that you have over the state of pediatric health care. And you are not alone. There are almost 9000 pediatric focus APRNs, who are with you, who are working together to optimize child health. And as I've been walking around, I just feel the pulse of the activity and the joy of being back together and of reconnecting with people who are like-minded, and who have the same mission and vision and that makes me optimistic for the future of child health. I know that by working together as experts in pediatrics and advocates for children, we really can make a difference.

Contemporary Pediatrics®:

Thanks for talking today.

Peck:

Thank you so much for having me.