APRN Fellowships

About the Fellowships

Located within Peak Vista Community Health Centers, our APRN Fellowships include a well-established Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP) track and the new Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (PMHNP) track. Both Fellowships offer five full-time employed positions for transitioning or recently graduated licensed APRNs who desire to increase their practice competence and confidence in a progressive, collaborative learning environment.

The 12-month program combines mentorship, problem-based learning, and hands-on clinical experience. Both Fellowship experiences are primarily in the Integrated Fellowship clinic and host unique rotations within Peak Vista which complement each track. The FNP track includes Women’s Health Services, Pediatrics, and some specialties such as endocrinology. The PMHNP track includes out-rotations with Inpatient, Crisis, Intellectual Disabilities Clinic.

FNP Fellowship

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Curriculum Topics / Out-Rotations

Accreditation

FNP Fellowship Faculty

PMHNP Fellowship

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Curriculum Topics / Out-Rotations

Accreditation

PMHNP Fellowship Faculty

Mission

To provide exceptional health care to people facing access barriers and to provide exceptional opportunities for recently graduated Advanced Practice Registered Nurses (APRN) to transition seamlessly from the academic to the clinical setting, and to facilitate the transition to practice for experienced Nurse Practitioners who have been out of the workforce or in another specialty.

Vision

Peak Vista Community Health Centers' APRN Fellowships are focused on enhancing the health of people and the community-at-large through a professional, caring staff who are motivated, enthusiastic, respectful, energetic and committed to strategic partnerships and a team approach to health care.

Why Fellowship?

Postgraduate APRN Fellowships have been recommended by the Future of Nursing Report (2010) as a method to seamlessly transition recently graduated APRNs into the clinical setting. Peak Vista offers an accredited outpatient Fellowship as part of an effort to improve health care access for people facing access barriers to care.

The Fellowship is philosophically oriented around Benner’s Novice to Expert Model, Bandura’s Theory of Self-Efficacy and vicarious learning, and general adult learning theory. Self-evaluated and preceptor-evaluated competencies are derived from modified ACGME Milestones (2019) which support the continuous progression of knowledge, skills, attitudes, and professional goals.

The five core competencies identified by the IOM Committee (2003) as crucial to health professionals' education include the following:

The ability to deliver patient-centered care, considering an increasingly diverse US population with varying cultural backgrounds, expectations and values.
The ability to work in interdisciplinary teams and practice team-based skills, especially for patients with chronic conditions.
The training and ability to search and evaluate the scientific evidence base upon which health care decisions should be made in practice.
The knowledge and ability to analyze the root causes of medical errors and quality problems and fix them through system-wide approaches.
A solid foundation and skills in using cutting-edge information technology to deliver high-quality medical care, such as being able to search the medical literature online or being able to use computerized order entry systems that automatically flag pharmaceutical contraindications and errors.

Fellows complete a QI project focused on an aggregate population or clinical practice problem. They are also required to attend CME's and work on projects and assignments that may occur outside of working hours. Additionally, Fellows are required to attend provider meetings over the course of the year.

Our Goals

The Fellowship combines precepted interdisciplinary clinical immersion, relevant post-graduate didactic, and self-directed population management QI activities.

The goals of the Fellowship are:

Increase access to quality health care for communities by assisting recently graduated APRNs to transition seamlessly to the practice setting.
Nurture the confidence and competence of transitioning APRNs in the primary care setting and outpatient psychiatry setting (or 'in safety net practice settings'),, thereby improving APRN and employer satisfaction.
Improve APRN retention in the safety net clinic settings such as federally qualified health centers.
Immerse APRNs in a collaborative and interdisciplinary model of integrated primary care and vulnerable populations care consistent with the recommendations of the Institute of Medicine.
Facilitate professional development and life-long learning through continued population-focused interdisciplinary education and quality assessment/improvement appropriate to the primary care and outpatient psychiatry setting.
Provide mandated hours of precepted prescriptive practice experience as required by the Colorado Board of Nursing and Department of Regulatory Agencies.

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Benefits & FAQ

Benefits

The APRN Fellowships are a 12-month, full-time salaried position with a competitive benefits package.

FAQS

When does the APRN Fellowships begin?

Generally, the Fellowships begins the first or second week in September. The Fellows spend twelve months in an immersive, clinical environment, completing the program September of the following year.

How many Fellows will be in the program?

The Fellowship accepts 5 Fellows in each track every year.

Who can apply for the Fellowship?

The program is designed for transitioning or recently graduated licensed FNPs and PMHNPs who will be certified and licensed by the start of the program.