The Center of Excellence in Advanced Practice application consists of five (5) sections:

1. Advanced Practice Leadership
2. Advanced Practice Infrastructure
3. Survey (online)
4. Documents & Policies
5. Exemplars

Section I. Advanced Practice Leadership
Organizations will identify who serves as the advanced practice executive (if any), and any other formal advanced practice administrators/managers (if any). The background of these individuals, along with a thorough and detailed description of their roles & responsibilities will be critically important to assess. The history and development of these roles, the reporting structure, administrative vs. practice ratio of the roles, administrative support, budgetary & financial responsibility, and direct vs. indirect supervision/oversight of APRNs & PAs (and potentially other staff) should all be addressed along with day-to-day operations.

Section II. Advanced Practice Infrastructure
Organizations will provide a comprehensive and detailed overview of all structural and operational processes related to core areas and domains of advanced practice. Questions regarding the following domains will be addressed in detail from the perspective of an advanced practice department, service line, center, or other blended/matrixed model.

Section III. Survey (online)

Organizations will distribute an electronic, online survey to three (3) different groups of staff:

• APRNs & PAs
• MD leaders and RN leaders who are involved with advanced practice providers
• Other administrators who are involved with advanced practice providers

APPex will provide the organization with a weblink to the customized survey. The organization is responsible for distributing to the appropriate groups of staff and leaders.

Organizations may offer reasonable incentives or rewards for completing surveys (e.g., a $10 gift card), but may not unduly influence or bias any members of these groups towards either false responses or misleading positive ratings and commentary.

APRN & PA Survey

Nine (9) sections, 65 questions in total.

NPs/PAs= 45-50 minutes to complete.

CRNAs/CMNs/CNSs= 25-35 minutes to complete.

MD Leaders, RN Leaders, and Other Administrators Survey

Two (2) sections, 19 questions in total.

10-15 minutes to complete.

Many questions are rating-based questions (Likert scale), with open text fields for providing further details. Respondents should be encouraged to provide further clarifying information when providing very high ratings or low/very low ratings.

Organizations may collect responses for a maximum of up to four (4) weeks.

The survey is anonymous and does not require any names or other identifying information.

Section IV. Documents & Policies

Organizations will provide—via electronic upload within the online application—documents, forms, checklists, manuals, and policies related to advanced practice providers.

Section V. Exemplars

Organizations will highlight progress involving advanced practice by providing exemplars: predominant examples of a given improvement or accomplishment.

Three (3) total exemplars are required; one (1) specific exemplar is mandatory while the remaining two may be chosen from a few different topics.

Exemplars should be between 500 and 2,000 words and may include supporting documents (e.g., graphs, tables, figures).

Each exemplar should address: