Interprofessional Post-Graduate Training Model for Nurse Practitioners and Physician Trainees

People living with serious illness and their care partners rely on team-based specialty hospice and palliative care (HPC) in order to achieve high quality end of life outcomes. In HPC, physician and nurse practitioner (NP) scope of practice has significant overlap so training together may offer benefits to clinicians and patients.

Assessment of clinical competencies in a post-graduate training program consisting of NPs and physicians training and learning side-by-side.

A crosswalk assured NP and physician HPC clinical competencies were captured in evaluation questions used by interprofessional program faculty to observe and assess trainees. Six clinical competencies were calculated based on aggregated evaluations for each physician and NP HPC post-graduate trainee at 3, 6, 9, and 12 months annually for 3 years. For NPs and physicians, the mean slopes of the best fit lines, the final numeric score, and the mean net change between 12 and three month competencies were compared. Learner experience was captured qualitatively.

There was no statistical difference in the change of competency scores, the final competency scores, or the trajectory of improvement in the six competencies between physician to NP trainees. Adding NP trainees was considered by post-graduate trainees as a strength of the program, and did not detract from physician competence achievement.

Assessing an IPE post-graduate training program in HPC was possible using a shared clinical competency framework, and revealed similar clinical gains for NPs and physicians enrolled in the program.