Abstract
Advanced practice providers (APPs) are key members of the gastrointestinal (GI) surgical oncology team. For newly hired APPs, a comprehensive onboarding program provides guidance to help improve the quality of care provided to patients, as well as APP job satisfaction and retention. There is currently limited information on the components of a structured onboarding program for APPs in GI surgical oncology. The GI surgical oncology APP team identified the need to develop a standardized process with established competencies, education, evaluation, and mentorship. The development of the GI Surgical Oncology APP Onboarding Tool (GISOAPP-OT) provides a comprehensive, 12-month onboarding process that can be adapted for any surgical specialty to standardize and augment training in a complex cancer care environment.
References
Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education. (2023). ACGME Program Requirements for Graduate Medical Education in Complex General Surgical Oncology. https://www.acgme.org/globalassets/PFAssets/ProgramRequirements/446_ComplexGeneralSurgicalOncology_2020.pdf?ver=2020-02-17-090110-9879
American Society of Clinical Oncology. (2020). ASCO Advanced Practice Provider (APP) Onboarding and Practice Guide. https://society.asco.org/sites/new-www.asco.org/files/content-files/practice-patients/documents/APP-Onboarding-Guide-1-18-21.pdf
Anglin, L., Sanchez, M., Butterfield, R., Rana, R., Everett, C. M., & Morgan, P. (2021). Emerging practices in onboarding programs for PAs: Strategies for onboarding. JAAPA, 34(1), 32–38. https://doi.org/10.1097/01.Jaa.0000723932.21395.74
Chaney, A., Martin, A., Cardona, K., & Presutti, R. J. (2022). Nurse practitioner and physician assistant onboarding in a family medicine practice. Journal of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners, 34(3), 522–528. https://doi.org/10.1097/jxx.0000000000000611
Garcia, M. G., Watt, J. L., Falder-Saeed, K., Lewis, B., & Patton, L. (2017). Orienting and onboarding clinical nurse specialists: A process improvement project. Clinical Nurse Specialist, 31(3), 163–168. https://doi.org/10.1097/nur.0000000000000294
Hollis, G., & McMenamin, E. (2014). Integrating Nurse Practitioners Into Radiation Oncology: One Institution’s Experience. Journal of the Advanced Practitioner in Oncology, 5(1), 42–46.
Hwa, Y. L., Marshall, A. L., Shelly, J. L., Colborn, L. K., Nowakowski, G. S., & Lacy, M. Q. (2019). Assessment of the need for a hematology-specific fellowship curriculum for advanced practice providers using a needs-based survey. JCO Oncology Practice, 15(7), e593–e599. https://doi.org/10.1200/jop.18.00697
Langley, T. M., Dority, J., Fraser, J. F., & Hatton, K. W. (2018). A comprehensive onboarding and orientation plan for neurocritical care advanced practice providers. Journal of Neuroscience Nursing, 50(3), 157–160. https://doi.org/10.1097/jnn.0000000000000359
National Comprehensive Cancer Network. (2024). NCCN Guidelines: Treatment by Cancer Type. https://www.nccn.org/guidelines/category_1
Perera, S. K., Jacob, S., Wilson, B. E., Ferlay, J., Bray, F., Sullivan, R., & Barton, M. (2021). Global demand for cancer surgery and an estimate of the optimal surgical and anaesthesia workforce between 2018 and 2040: A population-based modelling study. Lancet Oncology, 22(2), 182–189. https://doi.org/10.1016/s1470-2045(20)30675-6
Pickard, T., Williams, S., Tetzlaff, E., Petraitis, C., & Hylton, H. (2023). Team-based care in oncology: The impact of the advanced practice provider. ASCO Educational Book, 43, e390572. https://doi.org/10.1200/edbk_390572
The Society for Gynecologic Oncology. (2020). Advanced Practice Provider Onboarding Tool. https://connected.org/content/app-onboarding-tool