TTP & APP Issue - December 2023

The Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing (ACEN) and the Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant (ARC-PA) have partnered to offer Advanced Practice Provider (APP) programs, a path to be simultaneously accredited for nurse practitioners (NPs) and physician assistants (PAs). This collaboration has been intentional and thorough to ensure the highest standard of quality and excellence in clinical specialty training for APPs.

The ACEN is the leading authority in nursing accreditation and accredits more than 1,300 nursing education programs throughout the United States and internationally. As the original and longest-serving nursing education accrediting agency, the ACEN is committed to quality improvement. The ARC-PA is the only independent accrediting body authorized to accredit qualified physician assistant educational programs leading to the professional credential of PA. The ARC-PA has a history of excellence with entry-level PA programs and has been accrediting PA residency programs since 2008, with a period of abeyance, and reinstatement of the process in 2019.

Over the last decade, there has been an expansion of APP programs in the United States. The fact that APPs continue to refine their knowledge and skills via practice-based training is a hallmark feature of the profession. With the ever-changing healthcare needs, including changes in physician staffing, this model allows APPs to adapt rapidly to the medical needs within their communities. Employers, physicians, and patients benefit from this model.

The APP may choose to receive additional, formal training in a particular area of interest through an Advanced Practice Provider residency or fellowship program. This additional training is a concentrated, protected phase of supervised learning set apart from the staffing needs of the institution. The APP residency program curricula are designed to build upon the knowledge and experience acquired of the APP and to enable the graduate APP to assume a more advanced role on a specialty healthcare team. Post-graduate programs offer formalized training to increase specialty-specific knowledge, skills, competence, as well as to facilitate role transition. Programs typically involve a full-time study period of 12–24 months.

The APP accreditation process conducted by the ACEN and ARC-PA is voluntary and is entered by institutions and programs that sponsor a structured educational experience. The ACEN/ARC-PA accreditation process is streamlined for programs and accomplished through a single set of APP Standards, application, and a peer review site visit. The APP accreditation standards are not prescriptive and allow for flexibility of the program to meet the needs of the sponsoring organization and community served. The APP Standards address Sponsorship, Mission, Governance and Resources, Program Educators and Preceptors, Trainees, Curriculum, and Evaluation.

This process gives applicant programs the opportunity to demonstrate compliance with the approved accreditation standards. While the process is voluntary, it provides programs with an external validation of their educational offering. In addition, the process offers prospective APP trainees one method by which they care judge the quality of the educational experience offered by the program or institution.

In addition, the APP Program Standards for accreditation provide a framework for program quality. The Standards express key elements for the development and maintenance of a program designed to support APPs in refining their skills and competencies to provide quality patient care consistent with the goals of the sponsoring institution. APP program accreditation is designed to assess the program’s compliance with the APP Program Standards established by the ACEN and the ARC-PA.

The ACEN/ARC-PA policies, procedures, and processes are transparent, competency-based, guided by peers and contemporary practice, and have an intentional focus on outcomes.

APP programs applying for accreditation can enroll only NP, only PA, or both NP and PA trainees. This partnership allows programs to develop transition to practice programs with the flexibility to respond to the unique circumstances that exist temporally or in any given environment.

The approved Advanced Practice Provider Program Accreditation Standards, policies, fee schedule, process flow chart, application, eligibility form and accreditation manual are available at: https://acen-arcpa.org. Applications are now being accepted for placement on the 2024 commission meeting schedule.

If you have any questions, please contact us at info@acen-arcpa.org