When healthcare leaders think about advanced practice clinicians (APCs), the conversation often starts with staffing. Where do we have a gap? Where do we need more coverage? Where can we add capacity? Those are important questions. But I believe there is another question we need to be asking as well: Are we developing our APCs to lead?

Nurse practitioners, physician assistants, CRNAs, and other advanced practice clinicians are essential to healthcare today. They are helping improve access, extend the reach of physicians, care for patients across a wide range of settings, and keep an increasingly complex healthcare system moving. And as their role in healthcare continues to grow, so does the opportunity to develop their leadership potential.

Look at what APCs are already doing every day. They deliver care. They coordinate care. They teach and precept. They solve operational problems. They influence others. They work across disciplines. All of this is leadership. Even if no one has given them a leadership title, and even if they haven’t been developed as leaders, they’re acting as informal leaders now. But being an excellent clinician and having leadership potential are not the same as being prepared to lead. It makes sense to equip them with the skills they need to lead even better.

The truth is, APCs are well positioned to lead. Here’s why:

• They are close to patients and families. They see the whole person, not just the diagnosis. They see what happens before, during, and after an encounter and where patients may get confused, delayed, or lost along the way.
• They are close to the work. APCs see where the patient journey is breaking down. They see inefficient processes, unnecessary workloads, difficult handoffs, and opportunities to design the work differently.
• They work across disciplines. APCs work alongside physicians, nurses, administrators, and other members of the care team. That requires collaboration and the ability to influence people who may not report to them.
• They bring a different vantage point. Many APCs operate at the intersection of clinical care, team dynamics, and operations. That gives them an opportunity to see connections others may miss.
• They already have a strong foundation to build on. The leadership behaviors APCs demonstrate every day give organizations something substantial to build on. We do not need to create leadership potential from scratch. We need to develop what is already there.

So, what does intentional development look like? In my view, we need to develop APCs in two directions: horizontally and vertically. Horizontal development means helping APCs understand and contribute across the full spectrum of care and the entire patient journey. Vertical development means creating a path from clinical excellence to team leadership, operational leadership, strategic leadership, and, for those who want to pursue it, senior leadership. I talked about this approach in my recent Healthcare Plus Podcast conversation with Dan Collard (listen to the podcast here.)

Of course, not every APC wants to become an executive, nor should that be the goal. But every APC can lead better.

What does being prepared to lead require? It means being able to answer yes to questions like these: Can you lead yourself before you lead others? Can you communicate expectations clearly? Can you have a difficult conversation? Can you coach someone who is struggling? Can you influence people who do not report to you? Can you move beyond the patient in front of you and think about the team, the operation, and the system?

These are learned skills. And yes, they deserve the same kind of intentionality we bring to developing clinical knowledge.

The future is APC plus physician, not APC versus physician. We need to structure care so everyone can work at the top of their expertise and contribute what they do best. Developing APCs as leaders is part of making that happen.

Healthcare needs leaders who understand the challenge, and we have leadership talent right in front of us. APCs are already showing us what they can do. The organizations that invest in developing them now will be better prepared to meet what comes next. We have the talent. Now we need to develop it. 

Don Taylor will facilitate a breakout session titled “Developing and Engaging Advanced Practice Clinicians” on Tuesday, October 20, during the Rewiring Healthcare: Foundation to Future conference in Nashville, TN. Click here to learn more and to register.