Participation in committees, councils, and special interest groups (SIGs) provide APPs at Penn Medicine with professional development opportunities and the chance to collaborate with advanced practice colleagues on various projects aligned with the strategic priorities of the Office of Advanced Practice and Penn Medicine’s strategic goals.
Advanced Practice Providers Week Committee
The Advanced Practice Providers Week Committee works to formally recognize all APPs, as well as facilitate education and interprofessional collaboration. The goals of this committee are to promote the APP’s organizational visibility and recognize practitioners for their contributions. The committee establishes priorities for the APP Week celebration in conjunction with the National APP Week collaboration based on local entity initiatives.
The APP Week Committee’s work includes:
- Assess and continually evaluate professional needs of APPs within the health system
- Continue to develop educational and advocacy opportunities for APPs
- Define and promote the role of an APP, highlight best practice APP-driven initiatives
- Provide APPs with networking opportunities within the health system
- Review current collaborative relationships and continue to foster a multidisciplinary platform
- Promote system-wide APP collaboration
- Formally recognize APP achievements
- Maintain connection with National APP Week awards, activities, and lectures
APP Awards Subcommittee
The APP Awards Committee is a system wide committee of APPs who are charged with developing and maintaining award and selection criteria and processes that enable us to recognize the achievements of selected APPs with our highest honors in leadership, clinical excellence, education, and research & scholarship on an annual basis. Additionally, nominations are selected and made on behalf of the Penn Medicine Advanced Practice community for national award consideration during National APP week in September of every year.
APP Engagement
APPs are encouraged to engage in forums, such as committees, that develop them professionally, allow them to network and collaborate, and provide opportunities to participate in and lead organizational initiatives. These structures and opportunities may vary across the system, depending upon the setting or location of practice. An example of a committee structure at one of our hospitals is detailed below.
Advanced Practice Steering Committee
The Advanced Practice Steering Committee (APSC) leads and coordinates all committee activity for the Office of Advanced Practice. This is a collaborative and strategic committee with a united purpose to provide guidance and drive innovation for all committee work. The committee promotes excellence in advanced practice and creates a strategic vision for APP initiatives and activities at HUP.
Committee work aligns with health system goals and the Blueprint for Quality and Safety, and includes clinical excellence, engagement, recognition, partnership, and philanthropy. The purpose of the APSC is to:
- Establish APSC priorities on an annual basis
- Provide strategic vision for all APSC activities
- Provide recommendations to departmental leadership regarding advanced practice
- Partner with Advanced Practice Leadership Council as needed
- Standardize and coordinate APSC structures and processes
- Provide a platform for discussion of issues relevant to the Office of Advanced Providers
Education Committee at HUP
The Advanced Practice Education Council (APEC) provides opportunities based on the educational needs of HUP’s APPs. The committee assesses the needs of the department on an ongoing basis to ensure current initiatives are meeting the developmental needs of the APPs.
APEC provides training tools and opportunities for APPs to expand their knowledge base. The council offers an array of different formats for educational sessions, including a wide variety of faculty experience. Additionally, the Penn Simulation Center provides the opportunity for APPs to develop or practice hands-on skills in a safe, high-fidelity environment. Within the center, APP teams can also come together to run through emergency situations and other scenarios. This allows them to practice the team approach to hospital situations in a low-stakes environment and give real-time feedback with an opportunity to practice that feedback.
Advanced Practice Education Committee project work includes:
- APP Grand Rounds
- Evidence Based Medicine Series
- Radiology Review Series
Practice, Safety and Quality Committee at HUP
The APP Practice, Safety and Quality Committee focuses on the clinical needs of APPs by collaboratively leading projects to promote high-quality patient care and align with the health system’s goal of creating a high-reliability organization.
The committee’s strategic approach is twofold:
- Build competency in committee members around design, implementation and execution of quality improvement and patient safety initiatives
- Identify, support, and disseminate APP best practices with a focus on quality and patient safety
Work in this committee focuses on:
- Standardization of advanced provider practice to promote quality, decrease organizational risk, improve team satisfaction, and increase efficiency of care delivery models
- Identification, support, and dissemination of advanced provider best practices
- Promote and foster a culture of quality and safety in alignment with health system initiatives and strategy
The Practice Committee’s project work includes:
- Annual best practice review and dissemination
- Formal patient safety debriefs on local teams
Professional Development Committee at HUP
The Advanced Practice Professional Development Committee (APPDC) promotes the APP role through visibility and furthers professional growth opportunities by assessing the needs of the APP workforce on an ongoing basis. Through formal recognition, marketing, and advancement, the committee works to ensure visibility of APPs throughout the organization. In addition, through mentorship, networking, and a focus on dissemination of projects and initiatives, the committee works to encourage APP collaboration across specialties and departments.
The Professional Development Committee’s project work includes:
- Marketing for the APP role
- Creating a database for APPs to log publications and presentations
- Building mentorship, preceptor programs, and education for APPs interested in publishing