Advanced Practice Providers in Neurology Practice

Nurse practitioners and physician assistants or associates, also known as advanced practice providers (APPs), represent a rapidly growing health care workforce. APPs are key team members and resources for practices navigating the high demand for neurology care worldwide. However, transition-to-specialty-practice benchmarks are needed with this provider type to promote career longevity. Transition to practice requires employers to create safe environments to encourage well-being, resilience, and effectiveness of novice neurology APPs. The goal of transition to practice is to enhance specialty-specific clinical skills and confidence. Establishing specific benchmarks helps evaluate outcomes of APP integration into neurology practice. Once a successful transition to practice has occurred, neurology practices can use several models of care to provide direct patient care. Using team-based care models should be planned and agreed upon by the entire clinical team with mindfulness toward APP transition to practice.