Nurse Practitioner Fellowship Program
in Hospice and Palliative Care

The purpose of the Hospice and Palliative Care Nurse Practitioner (NP) fellowship training program at Michigan Medicine is to promote excellence in palliative care education, to develop experts in the field, and to ensure patients with serious illness receive evidence based, high quality patient centered care.

This one-year comprehensive post-graduate fellowship program will allow new graduates and experienced nurse practitioners to acquire clinical expertise in hospice and palliative care through a variety of clinical, educational and research opportunities during their training.

RNsHospice and Palliative NP fellows will actively engage other nurse practitioners, faculty and medical teams to increase the level of awareness of palliative care as an emerging nurse practitioner sub-specialty. They will serve as ambassadors to other advanced practice nurses for expert serious illness care, as members of the palliative care team.

Over recent years, Michigan Medicine and the VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System (VAAAHS) have developed and supported highly successful interdisciplinary palliative care programs. The robust palliative care clinical structure at Michigan Medicine and the strong educational structure of the HPM physician fellowship will serve as the foundation for the NP Fellowship program. The Hospice and Palliative NP Fellows will be taught and supervised by highly qualified Michigan Medicine interdisciplinary staff and faculty.

Goals and Objectives
  • Develop expertise in the provision of complex pain and symptom management and end of life care.
  • Enhance comprehensive patient and family centered care that optimizes quality of life and prevention and treatment of physical, emotional and spiritual suffering.
  • Support development of expertise in hospice and palliative care through curriculum and clinical experiences to accomplish national certification in hospice and palliative care.
  • Facilitate clinical expertise and decision making in the provision of palliative care.
  • Participate in interdisciplinary scholarship and research initiatives to support evidence based palliative care practice.
  • Facilitate continuing education and mentorship in the provision of palliative care.
Application Information

Fellowship Application, Candidate Review and Interview Selection Process

  • Applications are currently closed.

Questions?

For any questions about the program, please contact:

HPNP-Fellowship@med.umich.edu

Program Structure and Stipend

Program Structure

The curriculum is organized over a 12-month period consisting of clinical, educational, and scholarly/research experiences to meet the objectives of the program and to address the particular career interests of the Hospice and Palliative NP fellow. Preceptors will consist of nurse practitioners and physicians in palliative care. Education and learning will occur within the clinical setting as well as classroom sessions using seminar and occasional lecture formats. Online resources will also be available using a platform that supports both availability of readings and lectures in combination with discussion formats.


Hospice and Palliative NP Fellows will be supported through curriculum and clinical experiences to accomplish post-master's nursing certification and available national certifications or credentials in palliative care with the goal of Advanced Certified Hospice and Palliative Nurse (ACHPN) certification within one year of completion of the program.

Stipend

  • One-year competitive stipend.
  • CME opportunities
  • Hospice and Palliative Nurse Association Membership
  • Funding to attend the Annual Assembly of Hospice & Palliative Care
Impact of a Nurse Practitioner Fellowship

The palliative care fellowship program will serve as a venue for palliative and end-of-life care clinical experiences for the nursing community. The fellowship provides the opportunity to collaborate with interdisciplinary clinicians such as physicians, psychology, social work, chaplaincy, and pharmacy. Through this process we anticipate that more nurses and advanced practice nurses will be introduced to this work, inspired to consider how they can expand their knowledge and interest in this area.


Hospice and Palliative NP fellows will solidify their skills and gain confidence and expertise in directing the care of patients needing palliative care. The NP Fellow will participate in teaching conferences to highlight palliative care teaching points. Fellows will share results of their scholarly projects with others during institutional Research Day events and will be encouraged to present their projects at national and regional opportunities. At the end of the program, the NP Fellow will possess expertise in palliative care to continue to work in the area or apply to other areas of practice.

Curriculum

The curriculum is innovative and comprehensive including competencies related to knowledge, patient care, practice based learning and improvement, systems based practice, professionalism, and inter-professional and communication skills applied to hospice and palliative care.

The following educational domains will be strongly emphasized throughout the curriculum:

  • The hospice and palliative care approach to dying
  • Death and dying
  • Psychological and spiritual support
  • Bereavement support for the family
  • Pain assessment and management in cancer and non-cancer patients
  • Assessment and management of non-pain symptoms
  • Dementia, depression and delirium
  • Medical co-morbidities and complications with life-threatening diseases
  • Optimizing function as it pertains to quality of life
  • Nutrition
  • Clinical communication
  • Ethical and legal decision making
  • Interprofessional Teamwork
  • Advanced Care Planning
  • Quality improvement and research methodology in populations with advanced illnesses
Clinical Experiences and Research Opportunities

Clinical Experiences

The clinical rotations will take place at Michigan Medicine and VA Ann Arbor Health Care System (VAAAHS) and Arbor Hospice in order to expose the NP fellow to a diverse patient population. The Hospice and Palliative NP Fellows will be directly supervised by a NP Mentor and collaborating physician at each clinical site and they will interact with all members of the palliative care interdisciplinary teams. In addition to the requirements of the core curriculum, NP fellows will have dedicated focus on assessment skills utilizing evidence based standardized tools to implement appropriate interventions to address symptoms such as pain, dyspnea, constipation, anxiety, fatigue, nausea, vomiting, and altered cognition. The NP fellow will also have a significant role in developing the interdisciplinary plan of care and will be expected to integrate theory into practice.


Rotations at MM include the adult palliative care consult service and oversight of direct patient care in two inpatient palliative care beds. Rotations at VAAAHS include a palliative care consult service and inpatient hospice care beds in the community living center. Home Hospice experiences will be provided through Arbor Hospice.

Research Opportunities

The NP Fellow will be expected to participate in a research project during the program under the supervision of an APP mentor. The research project will reflect the individual’s interest. The research project may take the form of development of original evidence to improve care or as a quality improvement, evaluation project to support enhanced care outcomes. The NP fellows will have the opportunity to present their work at local, regional and national meetings.

For More Information - Websites of Interest

 

Apply HERE

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Target Audience: Nurse Practitioner Graduates | Author: Paul Ranella | Last reviewed: 12/30/21 | Updated 1/8/24