Cervical cancer is a preventable disease, yet each year approximately 10,370 new cases are diagnosed annually 3,170 woman will lose their life to this disease. Research has established a link between cervical cancer and human papillomavirus (HPV) infections. Most HPV infections clear without medical interventions. However, the concern for healthcare providers is the women who develop persistent HPV infection. Persistent HPV infections can lead to abnormal Pap Tests. Unfortunately, woman with abnormal Pap tests results often receive aggressive medical treatments. Aggressive medical treatments can lead to increasing healthcare costs. By initially administering the HPV vaccine as a preventive strategy for cervical cancer to all age appropriate females, over treatment and healthcare costs will greatly be reduced. Foreground: To assist healthcare providers with the management of abnormal Pap test results and to decrease related healthcare costs, CPGs were updated in 2006. During the same year, te American Cancer Society introduced CPGs for HPV vaccine use to prevent cervical cancer and its precursors. The HPV vaccine is a proven, preventative strategy for cervical cancer. Yet, adherence to CPGs remains a problem for women’s health, adult, family and pediatric nurse practitioners in primary care setting. Therefore, nurse practitioners working in primary care settings should follow the CPGs guidelines to manage women with abnormal Pap test and administer HPV vaccine to age appropriate females. Methods: A survey with a 6 weeks follow-up questionnaire was placed on surveymonkey.com. Participants were sent postcards with instructions for the survey, if they were interested in participating in this project to go to the link provided on the postcard. Two hundred and forty nurse practitioners agreed to participate in this project. EBP Framwork: The Ace Star Model of Knowledge Transformation by Stevens was the EBP framework used for the project. The theoretical model for the project was Levine Theory of Adaptation. Findings/Results: Key findings from this project are that NPs in primary care setting throughout the U.S. was aware of the guidelines and was using the guidelines in practice. The data from the survey indicates that women’s health NPs seem to adhere to CPGs for managing abnormal Pap test more than adult, family or pediatric NPs. Ninety of participants agreed that 11-12 year-old females should receive the HPV vaccine but this was not reflected in the response, which was low, to giving the Vaccine. Conclusion/Recommendations: Nurse practitioners are adhering to CPGs for the management of abnormal Pap test. Womens’s health NPs seem to be doing a better job of adhering to CPGs. The specialty area did not make a significance difference in vaccine administration.
