With the culmination of the Health Workforce Pilot Project (HWPP) #171 and the passage of Assembly Bill 154 (AB154) nurse practitioners (NPs), certified nurse-midwives (CNMs), and physician assistants (PAs) can now provide comprehensive first-trimester aspiration abortion care in California.
As part of HWPP #171, ANSIRH researchers evaluated a standardized, competency-based curriculum and training plan for education of primary care clinicians in early abortion care. The curriculum and training plan consists of didactic education, problem-based case reviews, and “hands on” clinical experience, along with knowledge testing and periodic clinical assessment, with the goal to train primary care clinicians to competence in all aspects of early aspiration abortion care.
- The HWPP #171 curriculum is based on ANSIRH’s Early Abortion Training Workbook (UCSF Bixby Center in Reproductive Health Research & Policy, 2007).
- The HWPP #171 training plan is based on the TEACH Project (Training in Early Abortion for Comprehensive Health Care) on early abortion that is used to train residents and primary care physicians in California and nationwide.
- The Core Competencies for First Trimester Abortion Care are intended as entry-level competencies for primary care clinicians providing early abortion care, regardless of setting.
Per AB154, beginning January 1, 2014, and until January 1, 2016, the training and clinical competency protocols established by HWPP #171 shall be used as training and clinical competency guidelines for any licensed NP, CNM, and PA interested in providing aspiration abortion care in California.
Below are the essential components for the training of primary care clinicians in early abortion care:
- Early Abortion Training Curriculum Guidelines
- Core Competencies: First Trimester Aspiration Abortion
- For NPs and CNMs: Standardized Procedure Criteria for Abortion Care with AB154 Requirements (California BRN Regulation)
- Abortion Complication Definitions & Tracking (sample tool available soon)