In recognition of the importance and partnership of advanced practice practitioners (APPs) with nurses and physicians in delivering patient care, Vanderbilt University Hospital (VUH) has added APP directors to the VUH segment leadership teams.
Advanced practice practitioners include nurse practitioners, Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists, Certified Nurse Midwives and physician assistants.
Under the previous model, the VUH segments were organized as Surgery, Medicine, Obstetrics and Heart/Neuroscience, with each having an Associate Nursing Officer, Associate Operating Officer and Associate Chief of Staff leading those segments.
Under the new model, an APP will be part of leadership in each of those segments, moving from a triad to a quadriad leadership model. In addition, Heart and Neuroscience will be developed into separate segments, recognizing their upcoming growth as capacity from the new VUH tower comes online.
Each of the segment APP leaders will report to a senior director of Advanced Practice, a position yet to be filled, who will in turn report to VUH Chief Nursing Officer Robin Steaban. The structure supplements but does not replace existing reporting relationships.
Steaban said the hospital now has more than 300 APPs, and they are responsible for most direct and minute-to-minute provider care in the hospital, in collaboration with attending physicians.
“Advanced practice practitioners are key to the work that we do,” she said. “They have a unique perspective of patient care, and these leadership roles give them a seat at the table to share their expertise and perspectives to influence our performance.”
The new directors of Advance Practice in the segments are:
- Surgery — Shelley Atkinson, DNP, APRN.
- Medicine — Jodi Robbe, MS, PA-C, MHA.
- Heart — Deborah Payne, MSN, ACNP-BC.
- Neuroscience — Caroline Banes, MSN, APRN, ACNP-BC, (interim).
- Obstetrics — Angela Wilson-Liverman, DHSC, CNM.
Payne said, “This is a great advancement for Advanced Practice. The new model assembles leaders of all the right disciplines at the table for decision making. It gives Advanced Practice a level of involvement that we have never seen before, and I have no doubt that it will make us better and ultimately improve the care we deliver to our patients.”
“The physician leadership of the VUH segments all warmly support this organizational development,” said Warren Sandberg, MD, PhD, professor and chair of the Department of Anesthesiology and VUH Chief of Staff. “We enthusiastically view APPs as crucial teammates at the bedside and in hospital leadership. We look forward to creating segment leadership quadriads, and this development is timely. Robin and I look forward to welcoming a new senior director into our clinician leadership team, where I anticipate a highly productive and collaborative partnership.”