An Academic Based Nurse Practitioner Fellowship Program: A Pilot Program to Ease Nurse Practitioner Transition to Practice

Abstract

Background: Graduate nurse practitioners (NPs) face numerous challenges transitioning from registered nurse to advanced practice nurse. They may struggle with role identification, communication and teamwork as well as other professional issues. Nurse practitioner residency programs have been developed at a few locations across the country. These programs are rare and generally found only at larger organizations.</p><p>Purpose: Because many NPs are hired individually in small practice settings, NP faculty at a small private university in northeast Florida developed an academic based Nurse Practitioner Fellowship designed to ease the transition to practice for graduating NPs.</p><p>Methods: Effectiveness of the Fellowship was determined by the scores obtained on the Nurse Practitioner Role Transition Scale, administered before and after the Fellowship.</p><p>Findings: FNP graduates overwhelmingly supported the value of the program and felt it helped ease their transition from RN to NP