Nurse Practitioner Acceptance of 2006 Consensus Guideline Recommendations

1. Nurse Practitioner Acceptance of 2006 Consensus Guideline Recommendations for Increased Screening Intervals for Pap Smears in Women Over the Age of 30 Maureen B. Boardman, MSN, FNP; Joyce Cappiello, PhD, WNP, FNP; Deborah J Johnson, MHA (Supported by the Dartmouth CO-OP Project) • Background/Purpose Are you performing pap smears with high risk HPV on women age 30 or older without significant past history of abnormal paps? In August 2011, article published in the online version of the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology stating that 76% of office-based physicians and 85% of hospital-based physicians were still performing annual Pap smear screenings on their patients, even for women whom current guidelines say “can wait for three years before tested again.” This pilot project was to re-evaluate nurse practitioner’s acceptance of the 2006 Guideline changes for decreasing Pap Smear intervals on women over the age of 30. Methods • Internet-based survey (SurveyMonkey) using NP List-Serve from NH and VT: n=34 • Paper survey from NH/MA Annual NP Conference: n=96 Demographics * “Other” was not a response in 2008 If no, why are you not performing routine HPV screenings on all women 30 years and older every three years? * Could choose multiple specialties • In both the 2008 and 2012 survey, 100% were female respondents. Results What is your perception of women’s understanding and acceptance of the changes in the screening guidelines? Women are: In 2008, 35% responded “cost and insurance coverage issues” Conclusion/Implications Despite the four year interval from the 2008 survey, the study shows that there has been no change in the acceptance of the Consensus Guideline recommendations; reducing the frequency of Pap smears and adding HPV testing in women over the age of 30 by nurse practitioners providing routine well-women care. Hence, further education in needed. * “confused” was not a response in 2008