Advanced Practice Provider Professional Program Delivers Positive Results
Program implemented at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia enhanced professional development and leadership for advanced practice providers.

NEW YORK, April 8, 2022 – As the advanced practice provider (APP) workforce continues to grow, there is a need to expand the development, implementation and sustainment of an innovative and comprehensive APP professional advancement program at various organizational levels. A recent article published in the Journal of Pediatric Health Care advocates for such advancement programs after seeing results at one of the nation’s largest employers of pediatric APPs.

The APP profession has grown in recent years across various health care settings resulting in the need to provide continued education and professional growth and development and desired ways to be recognized for their clinical expertise, leadership, and accomplishments across the field of APPs. In response to this need and desire, an APP professional advancement program was created at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia in the hopes of supporting “all APPs regardless of their roles and practice setting”.

“The APP role is a career not just a job, and this program recognizes and supports our APPs on their journey and gives guidance for each step in their path,” said Amy Scholtz, MSN, RN, lead author of the article.

Through the creation of such programs, there is the ability of advancement for all APPs to levels such as clinical leader expert or clinical leader master based on years of experience and proven accomplishments at the local, organizational or international levels. The APP professional advancement program, developed for this study, recognizes APPs for their achievements in the form of professional development funds for continued development through attending conferences, contributing to journals or textbooks, scholarly activities or other continuing education opportunities. Such incentives show support for this field.

By supporting APPs through growth in their career journey and recognizing the professional work they do every day, there is a chance to promote such effort. It is the hope that they will be more engaged, which benefits the workforce, leading to better outcomes in quality and patient care.

The article, titled: “­Supporting Advanced Practice Providers Through the Development and Implementation of an Advanced Practice Provider Professional Advancement Program” was published in the March/April edition of the Journal of Pediatric Health Care and can be accessed here.

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The National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners (NAPNAP) is the nation’s only professional association for pediatric-focused advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs) dedicated to improving the quality of health care for infants, children, adolescents and young adults. Representing more than 8,000 health care practitioners with 18 special interest groups and 53 chapters, NAPNAP has been advocating for children’s health since 1973 and was the first APRN society in the U.S. Our mission is to empower pediatric-focused advanced practice registered nurses and key partners to optimize child and family health. NAPNAP.org