Super-Mentors to Train Multiple Neonatal Advanced Practice Providers: Pros and Cons

Area of Science:

• Neonatal care
• Advanced practice provider education
• Medical mentorship

Background:

• High demand for neonatal advanced practice providers (Neo APPs) exceeds current training capacity.
• Existing training models lack scalability, with no publications on mentors training more than one Neo APP learner.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and evaluate a 12-month "Super-Mentor" program designed to train Neo APPs.
• To enable each Super-Mentor to simultaneously train two Neo APP learners, effectively doubling mentorship capacity.

Main Methods:

• Selected Super-Mentors received monthly training in mentorship concepts and support.
• Neo APP learners participated in a Fellowship program with didactic content and support.
• Quantitative data (recruitment, retention, job satisfaction) and qualitative stakeholder feedback were collected and analyzed.

Main Results:

• Six Super-Mentors successfully trained 14 Neo APPs, a twofold increase from the previous year.
• While pre-program job satisfaction scores were higher, post-program scores remained positive, suggesting clinical insignificance of the decrease.
• Qualitative feedback highlighted benefits like accelerated onboarding and improved relationships, alongside challenges in role clarity and logistics.

Conclusions:

• The Super-Mentor model effectively doubles the number of Neo APP learners a single mentor can train.
• Successful implementation requires comprehensive stakeholder preparation, adequate space, and appropriate technology.