Defining Advanced Practice Provider Transition to Practice Clinical Educator Roles

Authors

Sarah Vanderlinden, University of LynchburgFollow

Specialty

Transition to Practice

Advisor

Laura Witte

Abstract

Advanced Practice Providers (APPs), a collective term for advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs) and physician assistants (PAs), provide patient care within interprofessional healthcare teams. Unlike their physician colleagues, residency is not part of the educational training for these professions; therefore, APPs enter clinical roles from diverse experiences and educational training and undergo transition to practice (TTP). Onus for this transition in the first year of APP practice or into a new clinical setting rests with hiring organizations. This results in a wide variety of APP TTP experience and variation in the literature. One proposed solution is to define three specific roles of individuals who are trained to assimilate APPs into clinical roles. The roles are clinical preceptors, coaches, and mentors. Focused resources on APP TPT roles, role development and programmatic implementation includes defining and measuring performance to competencies and outcomes. Organizations investing in this best practice have described a return on this investment measured by improved APP contributions to the healthcare team productivity, APP engagement, and improved recruitment and retention of these individuals. The aim of this proposed solution is to first provide a review the current literature in APPs and other healthcare professionals to propose definitions for three APP TTP educator roles. Second, it is to encourage hiring organizations to adopt this as best practice for APP transition to practice and further refine and iterate. In addition, consistent adoption of APP TTP educator definitions and roles will support future research to better understand best practices for training.

Recommended Citation

Vanderlinden S. Defining Advanced Practice Provider Transition to Practice Clinical Educator Roles. University of Lynchburg DMSc Doctoral Project Assignment Repository. 2022; 4(3).