Successful Integration of Advanced Practice Providers Into a Pediatric Academic Community Intensive Care Unit

Abstract

Advanced practice providers (APPs) are providing high-quality care in hospital settings. The scope of practice of nurse practitioners (NPs) and physician assistants (PAs) has evolved to integrate them into the acute and critical care areas ( Meissen, 2019 Meissen H.H. Integrating advanced practice providers into the multiprofessional critical care team. Critical Care Medicine. 2019; 47: 737-738 Crossref PubMed Scopus (4) Google Scholar ; Simone, McComiskey and Andersen, 2016 Simone S. McComiskey C.A. Andersen B. Integrating nurse practitioners into intensive care units. Critical Care Nurse. 2016; 36: 59-69 Crossref PubMed Scopus (17) Google Scholar ; Sorce, Simone and Madden, 2010 Sorce L. Simone S. Madden M. Educational preparation and postgraduate training curriculum for pediatric critical care nurse practitioners. Pediatric Critical Care Medicine. 2010; 11: 205-212 Crossref PubMed Scopus (28) Google Scholar ). Nurse practitioners who pursue careers in pediatric critical care in Texas are mandated to hold an acute-care certification. Select PA programs offer extended specialty training; however, there is no PA acute certification option ( Association of Postgraduate PA Programs 2019 Association of Postgraduate PA Programs. (2019). Post graduate PA programs listing. Retrieved fromhttps://appap.org/programs/pa-programs-listing/ Google Scholar ). Advanced practice providers employed in an intensive care unit must function at a high level to care for the critically ill patient, and the opportunity for designing job specific clinical competencies is not yet well described. ( Grabenkort, Meissen, Gregg and Coopersmith, 2017 Grabenkort W.R. Meissen H.H. Gregg S.R. Coopersmith C.M. Acute care nurse practitioners and physician assistants in critical care: Transforming education and practice. Critical Care Medicine. 2017; 45: 1111-1114 Crossref PubMed Scopus (15) Google Scholar ; Meissen, 2019 Meissen H.H. Integrating advanced practice providers into the multiprofessional critical care team. Critical Care Medicine. 2019; 47: 737-738 Crossref PubMed Scopus (4) Google Scholar ; Simone, McComiskey and Andersen, 2016 Simone S. McComiskey C.A. Andersen B. Integrating nurse practitioners into intensive care units. Critical Care Nurse. 2016; 36: 59-69 Crossref PubMed Scopus (17) Google Scholar ). Jenilea K. Thomas, Director of Advance Practice Providers-Community Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, Section of Critical Care Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children's Hospital, Houston, TX. Brian J. Rissmiller, Associate Director of Texas Children's Hospital, West Campus, Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, Section of Critical Care Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children's Hospital, Houston, TX. Mark J. Riccioni, Associate Director of Woodlands Pediatric Intensive Care Unit Advance Practice Providers, Section of Critical Care Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children's Hospital, Houston, TX. Jeanine M. Graf, Chief Medical Officer of Texas Children's Hospital, West Campus, Section of Critical Care Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children's Hospital, Houston, TX.