Program Evaluation of a Critical Care Advanced Practice Provider Fellowship

Multiple factors such as workforce issues, decreasing resident hours, and increasingly critically ill patients have led to a higher demand of advanced practice providers (APPs) in critical care areas. Given variability in educational programs, previous experience in healthcare, and traditional orientation and onboarding structures, role transition for APPs into specialized areas such as intensive care units remains a challenge. Structured fellowship programs with specialized training in skills and simulation allow for a more robust experience for the new graduate APP but remain underutilized and are rarely described in the literature.
The purpose of this scholarly project was to conduct a program evaluation of an existing APP fellowship program at the author’s work site. The evaluation was completed after the graduation of the first cohort in August 2021 and utilized the Centers for Disease Control framework to guide the scholarly project. The results of the program evaluation were presented to the fellowship committee, key stakeholders and executives at the institution and will be used to support and improve the current critical care program, as well as expand into other areas at the institution.