A programmatic taxonomy to define, differentiate, and classify nurse practitioner postgraduate training

Area of Science:

• Nursing Education
• Advanced Practice Nursing
• Professional Development

Background:

• Postgraduate residencies and fellowships are increasingly vital for new and transitioning nurse practitioners (NPs).
• Existing NP postgraduate training lacks a standardized classification system.
• Varied program structures and objectives hinder clear understanding and comparison.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose a programmatic taxonomy for recognizing and classifying NP postgraduate training.
• To differentiate between NP residency, fellowship, and additional training programs.
• To compare these models based on mission, goals, environment, evaluation, and duration.

Main Methods:

• Identification and definition of distinct NP postgraduate training models.
• Comparative analysis of residency, fellowship, and additional programs.
• Evaluation across five key programmatic characteristics.

Main Results:

• Three primary models of NP postgraduate training are defined: residency, fellowship, and additional programs.
• Key differences between residency and fellowship programs are elucidated.
• A comparative framework highlights distinctions in mission, goals, environment, evaluation, and duration.

Conclusions:

• The proposed taxonomy offers a clear method for classifying NP postgraduate training.
• Adoption of this taxonomy can impact NP profession, public health, funding, and accreditation.
• Standardized classification supports early career NP development and specialization.