title: Creating Quality Online Materials for Specialty Nurse Practitioner Content: Filling a Need for the Graduate Nurse Practitioner.
abstract: Nurse practitioners are entering specialized areas of practice immediately after graduation from nurse practitioner (NP) education and certification and are finding employment in specialized areas such as oncology. Rapidly achieving a knowledge base in this highly specialized area of medicine coupled with the stress of the new nurse practitioner role can lead to a very difficult orientation and transition period. There are several methods to provide specialized education to NPs during their orientation period. Unfortunately, limitations such as a lack of motivated mentors, limited opportunities to practice the desired skill set or a lack of structure in regards to curriculum quality, and the learning needs of the new nurse hinder the NP's transition to practice. In response to either inadequate or non-standardized orientation to the specialty role of the oncology NP (ONP), a web-enhanced educational tool, funded through the National Cancer Institute, was developed for use in the USA: Oncology Nurse Practitioner Web Education Resource (ONc-PoWER). The development of ONc-PoWER was based upon essential education for NPs new to cancer care, adult learning theory, Bloom's Taxonomy, and foundations of quality online education. The five interactive web-based modules provide specialized education for the nurse practitioner new to oncology along with an on-site mentor to assist the NP in applying the course content to clinical practice.
authors.affiliation: Department of Acute and Tertiary Care, University of Pittsburgh School of Nursing, Victoria Street, 336 Victoria Building, Pittsburgh, PA, 15261, USA. rho100@pitt.edu.
authors.forename: Rosemary L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Hoffmann
authors.affiliation: Department of Acute and Tertiary Care, University of Pittsburgh School of Nursing, Victoria Street, 336 Victoria Building, Pittsburgh, PA, 15261, USA.
authors.forename: Sara Jo
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Klein
authors.affiliation: Department of Acute and Tertiary Care, University of Pittsburgh School of Nursing, Victoria Street, 336 Victoria Building, Pittsburgh, PA, 15261, USA.
authors.forename: Margaret Q
authors.initials: MQ
authors.lastname: Rosenzweig
mesh_terms: D003479:Curriculum; D020375:Education, Distance; D004509:Education, Nursing, Continuing; D006801:Humans; D054547:National Cancer Institute (U.S.); D009722:Nurse Practitioners; D009859:Oncology Nursing / Q000193:education* / Q000592:standards; D014481:United States
keywords: Continuing education; Mentoring; Oncology; Web-based instruction; ᅟNurse practitioner