Incorporating Lifestyle Medicine Knowledge and Skills Into Family Nurse Practitioner Education: A Pilot Program

Background: A school of nursing initiated a pilot project to integrate Lifestyle Medicine (LM) content into the family nurse practitioner (FNP) curriculum. Methods: The 6 LM pillars were incorporated into the FNP program via didactic lectures from FNP faculty, lectures from experts addressing LM in clinical settings, case studies during lectures, a narrative assignment, and a live simulation. A survey that assessed students' overall level of interest in LM, confidence in how to use LM knowledge and skills with patients, and overall feedback was completed by 41 students. In addition, student evaluation data about the culminating LM simulation-based learning experience was collected via an adapted SET-M survey and was completed by 38 students. Results: FNP students felt better prepared to assess and address LM with patients. One hundred percent of the 41 students surveyed reported that they plan to use the LM knowledge and skills during patient care. Conclusion: LM knowledge, confidence and competency were improved after the systematic integration of LM content into the FNP program. This pilot adds to the growing body of literature on strategies to increase student clinician knowledge, skills and comfort in enhancing patient health outcomes and well-being by integrating LM into patient care.