ACNP intensivist: a new ICU care delivery model and its supporting educational programs

Area of Science:

• Critical Care Medicine
• Advanced Practice Nursing
• Healthcare Management

Background:

• Shortage of intensivists impacts critical care delivery.
• Tertiary academic medical centers face challenges in staffing intensive care units (ICUs).
• Traditional resident ICU staffing models have limitations.

Purpose of the Study:

• Describe a physician (MD)/acute care nurse practitioner (ACNP) intensivist model for critical care.
• Outline an innovative nurse practitioner educational program supporting this model.
• Address the intensivist shortage and enhance ICU coverage.

Main Methods:

• Development and implementation of multidisciplinary intensivist MD/ACNP teams.
• ACNPs collaborating with MD intensivists in daily medical plan execution, procedures, and emergency response.
• Expansion of Vanderbilt University School of Nursing ACNP Program curriculum.

Main Results:

• MD/ACNP teams provide 24-hour coverage of tertiary level ICUs.
• Model offers unique benefits over traditional resident staffing.
• Cost-effective expansion of ICU coverage and bed availability.

Conclusions:

• The MD/ACNP intensivist model effectively addresses intensivist shortages.
• This collaborative approach enhances critical care services and ICU capacity.
• The specialized ACNP educational program equips practitioners for complex critical care.