Welcome back to the AdvancingPractice Pages!

Erie’s APRN Fellowship Newsletter! Thank you for your continued support. Our goal is to spread awareness not only about our program but also about the larger movement of building nurse leaders through residencies and fellowships. We hope this newsletter serves as an informative and inspiring resource for all readers.

For those unfamiliar, the AdvancingPractice Pages is a newsletter that provides updates about the Erie Family Health Centers and the University of Illinois at Chicago School of Nursing APRN Fellowship, AdvancingPractice. As a HRSA-funded training program, we mentor and support recently graduated APRNs to become the next generation of nurse leaders in community health.

In this issue, we introduce our new AdvancingPractice Fellows and share insights into our onboarding and credentialing process. Additionally, we'll highlight exciting events and share what is on the horizon for 2025. But first, let’s take a look at what our previous fellows have been up to.

Former Cohort 4

After a whirlwind of a year, we reached the fourth- year mark of the Fellowship. We started our cohort 4, on September 11, 2024, and they completed their yearlong program on September 6, 2024.

It was a pleasure to work with them and we are confident that these individuals will be successful wherever their careers may take them, and we will miss them dearly. After the fellowship we retained four fellows at Erie, and we look forward to watching them grow as leaders! It has been inspiring, and it keeps us motivated to continue improving as a program.

Lastly, the last official day for cohort 4 was on September 6, 2024. We celebrated with a potluck style at the Program Directors home and invited their preceptors to give them any last advice & looked back at all the wonderful things they accomplished during their fellowship.

Health is Wealth

Working in healthcare can sometimes take a toll on our providers and we wanted to offer our fellows one last tool necessary to help them face any stress and adversity they may encounter on their oncoming journey. Therefore, a retreat was held on August 14, 2024, and we also invited the continuity and mentored preceptors, as a thank you for all their hard work they provide to the fellowship. The focus was strengthening resiliency by arranging a yoga and mindfulness session. The retreat took place in a lovely forest preserve in the northwest side of Chicago.

AdvancingPractice Advancements

Some exciting events happened last year. First, we are pleased to welcome a new AdvancingPractice Team Member! Donaji Velasco joined us as the new Erie APRN Fellowship Coordinator on May 13, 2024, replacing Emily Bettencourt. As we wished Emily all the best in the next step of her career, we were thrilled to welcome Donaji to the team. Her dedication and expertise have already made a positive impact on our program.

Additionally, Olivia Dixon, CNM, began her role as our Clinical & Reproductive Health Liaison Lead on December 2, 2024. Olivia shared, “My clinical passions include supporting patient autonomy, helping patients find the right contraception, and promoting maternal and infant vitality.” We’re thrilled to have her on board.

Finally, we are thrilled to announce the introduction of a new role within our team: Tia Monique Nelson has been appointed as our Waukegan Liaison Lead. In this pivotal role, Tia will help expand our program's presence in Lake County, offering vital support to our fellows and addressing healthcare disparities in the region. Her dedication and expertise will undoubtedly strengthen our mission to deliver equitable and accessible care.

Additionally, 2024 saw continued growth in our partnerships, curriculum, and outreach efforts, setting the stage for an even more impactful year ahead.

Meet the New Fellows - Cohort 5

We know what you’re thinking. When did you get started and who are the new fellows? We are pleased to announce that we have eight new fellows who began the program on September 9, 2024, and will end their fellowship on September 5, 2025.

In May, we hired eight new fellows to be a part of the 5^th cohort of AdvancingPractice! Five of them are Family Nurse Practitioners (FNPs); one is a Pediatric Nurse Practitioner (PNP), and two are Certified Nurse Midwives (CNMs). This year, we have two FNPs who have identified interest in the maternal track.

As usual, our fellows completed a comprehensive three-week orientation and officially began seeing their own patients on September 30, 2024. We are thrilled to embark on this journey with such a highly qualified and determined group of individuals.

WELCOME, 2024 - 2025 COHORT!!

What Schedules Look Like

This year has been quite different from the rest of the years, historically the fellows had been instructed to observe and do minimal hands-on work due to them not being credentialed but this year we onboarded our fellows as fully credentialed APRNs.

As mentioned earlier, the incoming fellows participated in a condensed three-week orientation, running from September 9 to September 27, instead of the usual four weeks. During this period, they engaged in two days of EMR training, a SIM lab session at UIC with our partnering faculty, and Spanish classes held intermittently during orientation and continued on Wednesday afternoons afterward. The orientation also included the Erie Series covering various topics, shadowing experiences with key individuals at their assigned Erie clinic sites, and a special museum day to round out the experience.

Ramp Up

Our eight fellows started seeing patients in clinic on September 30, 2024, and their last day in clinic will be August 29, 2025. The fellows’ schedules will ramp up through the year: 4, 6, 8, 9, then 10 patients per session. Below is the ramp up schedule for this new cohort:

· 4 patients per session – 9/30/24 (4 weeks total)

· 6 patients per session – 11/4/24 (8 weeks total)

· 8 patients per session – 12/30/24 (8 weeks total)

· 9 patients per session – 3/3/25 (4 weeks total)

· 10 patients per session – 3/31/2025.

What's in the Works!

Recruitment for Cohort 6 is officially underway! That’s right—we are now welcoming applications for our sixth cohort. Applications opened on November 11, 2024. We hosted virtual open houses, as well as one in-person event at our Erie Evanston/Skokie Health Center. The final open house was held virtually on January 29, 2025, and the last day for applications will be February 2, 2025.

In the meantime, we have been actively updating our social media to engage prospective applicants and provide insight about the APRN Fellowship Program. In the next couple of months, we will sort out the final details of the interview process and start reviewing applications.

The Last Word

Thank you for your continued interest and engagement in our program! At Erie Family Health Centers, alongside AdvancingPractice, we are driven by the belief that healthcare is a human right. To further this mission and expand access to care, AdvancingPractice is proud to continue—and we’ve begun the recruitment and application process for our sixth cohort!

If you know any FNP, PNP, AGNP, or CNM students who share Erie’s mission, please encourage them to visit our website at Erie.Health/APRN or contact us at advancingpractice@eriefamilyhealth.org. We’re excited to share more updates about the program in our next newsletter!

Thank you for Spreading the Word!

Every year, our goal is to recruit individuals who align with Erie’s mission, believe in healthcare as a human right, and are passionate about community health and primary care. We also seek fellows who demonstrate a growth mindset and a commitment to learning. Thank you for helping us spread the word!

Enjoying our Newsletters? What else do you want to know about the Fellowship? Let us know what you think by emailing us at AdvancingPractice@eriefamilyhealth.org

THANKS FOR READING!

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