by Matt Batcheldor
Vanderbilt University Medical Center’s Advanced Practice Nurse Practitioner Fellowship has been accredited with distinction as a Practice Transition Program by the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commission on Accreditation in Practice Transition Programs.
After an extensive evaluation, the ANCC deemed the program as the highest quality with distinction and worthy of public confidence. VUMC has one of only 15 programs nationwide that have received the distinction.
ANCC Accreditation is a voluntary review process intended to strengthen and sustain the quality and integrity of practice transition programs. The accreditation was the result of a lengthy self-study that included information on the history of the program, how it has evolved, successes and challenges, quality outcome data and stories from fellows. The self-study was further affirmed through a four-hour virtual site visit involving fellows, clinical coordinators and executive nursing leadership.
VUMC’s 12-month fellowship program supports new advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs) as they transition from student to practice, or from practicing one APRN specialty to another. In the program, fellows receive specific education and skills training to assist them in developing effective decision-making, sound clinical judgement and professional performance.
“To ensure that our patients receive the highest quality of care, a fellowship affords an APRN the ability to gain competence in their area of practice through mentorship, through education and teaching specific to that area of practice,” said Buffy Krauser Lupear, DNP, CRNA, APRN, director of Professional Development in the VUMC Office of Advance Practice and director of the fellowship program.
“It is a protected environment in which fellows will see patients but also have protected time for scholarly work, whether that is attending conferences or completing a project, as each of them are required to do. It allows them to immerse themselves in clinical practice while gaining knowledge and experience.”
The program, which dates to 2016, has graduated three fellows — one in solid organ transplants, one in urology and another in colorectal. One solid organ transplant fellow, one urology fellow and two oncology fellows are currently in the program.
“Our fellowships attract the best and brightest to VUMC and to working in highly specialized areas of care,” said April Kapu, DNP, RN, ACNP, associate nursing officer for VUMC Advanced Practice and director of the Office of Advanced Practice. “The accreditation provides official recognition of the strength and quality of our program. We are so grateful to our clinical departments, our nursing and physician leaders, to Buffy Krauser Lupear, to the fellowship coordinators, and most especially to the fellows, who are the shining stars of the program.”
The accreditation allows graduates of the program to claim that they participated in an ANCC-accredited APRN Fellowship Program that met rigorous evidence-based criteria.
“This exciting accreditation acknowledges that our fellowship program has set a high standard for excellence in training compassionate, evidence-based advanced practice nurses,” said Marilyn Dubree, MSN, RN, NE-BC, Executive Chief Nursing Officer. “The result is improved care for our patients and families.”
