LI Nurse Practitioner Leads Nationwide Program to Increase Vaccination Rate

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Hauppauge, New York, United States of America (Free-Press-Release.com) January 19, 2011 -- The American Nurses Association recently presented the ANA Immunity Award to Mary Beth Koslap-Petraco, DNP, PNP-BC, CPNP, Suffolk County Department of Health coordinator for child health, who has been both a local and national leader on immunization and children’s health issues.

Dr. Petraco implemented an influenza immunization program at Suffolk County’s health department that increased the employee vaccination rate from less than 30 percent to more than 90 percent. The program was presented as a case study at a CDC National Immunization Conference, and elements were incorporated into CDC’s recommendations for developing influenza immunization programs for health care workers.

In addition, Dr. Petraco, collaborating with the ANA and Every Child by Two (an advocate for timely immunization of the nation’s children by age two) partnered to produce an educational webcast on vaccine safety, nurses’ role in immunization promotion, and risk communications. The online production available to nurses nationwide for continuing education credit includes role-play video vignettes showing a nurse listening to and addressing a patient’s concerns about vaccines in a clinical setting, and a nurse presenting a case for the importance of influenza vaccination to a peer.

The ANA has launched a new immunization education program aimed at helping registered nurses discuss the benefits of vaccines with patients, families and fellow health care workers. The course and award are components of the ANA Bringing Immunity to Every Community project, a collaborative initiative with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that focuses on maximizing nurses’ role in increasing vaccination rates and reducing incidence of vaccine-preventable diseases. The two-year project seeks to increase nurses’ knowledge and competency in immunization, encourage nurses to be vaccinated, and position nurses as leading advocates for immunization among peers, patients, and the public.

Dr. Petraco, a pediatric nurse practitioner with more than 40 years’ experience in health care, is a resident of Amityville. She has served on the National Vaccine Advisory Committee, which advises the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on immunization policy and on the Advisory Board for the Immunization Action Coalition, which provides educational materials for health professionals.

She has authored articles in peer-reviewed health journals on immunization, helped develop an educational workbook for pediatric nurse practitioners on childhood immunization, and serves as the online advice nurse for Parents of Kids with Infectious Diseases. She holds a Doctor of Nursing Practice and an MS from SUNY Stony Brook University School of Nursing, a BSN from Excelsior College in Albany, and a diploma in nursing from the Bellevue School of Nursing in New York City.

Based in Hauppauge, NY, the Nurse Practitioner Association of Long Island (NPALI) is a chapter of the Nurse Practitioner Association of New York State. NPALI was formed in 1980, and works in concert with the state organization for the purpose of uniting, representing, and advocating for the profession.

Nurse practitioners (NPs) are registered nurses who are prepared, through advanced education and clinical training, to provide a wide range of preventive and acute health care services to individuals of all ages. NPs complete graduate-level education preparation that leads to a master’s degree. NPs take health histories and provide complete physical examinations; diagnose and treat many common acute and chronic problems; interpret laboratory results and X-rays; prescribe and manage medications and other therapies; provide health teaching and supportive counseling with an emphasis on prevention of illness and health maintenance; and refer patients to other health professionals as needed. NPs are authorized to practice across the nation and have prescriptive privileges, of varying degrees, in 49 states. The most recent Health Resources and Services Administration Sample Survey report (2008) shows 158,348 Nurse Practitioners in the United States, an increase of more than 12 percent over 2004 data. The actual number of nurse practitioners in 2006 is estimated to be at least 145,000.

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