Advanced Practitioners in Hematology and Oncology: A Call to Action

Abstract

The hematology and oncology field is experiencing a wave of challenges in the form of workforce shortages, increasing complexity of care, and a growing population of cancer survivors. These factors all contribute to pressure on oncology practices to improve efficiency. Advanced practitioners (APs) in hematology and oncology have become integral members of the interdisciplinary team. They represent a specialty workforce critical to the delivery of timely, quality, expert cancer care across a broad range of services. With the growth in the AP profession in terms of numbers and services provided, it is critical for AP organizations and leaders to accurately measure AP contributions to care, describe fair compensation for AP services, deploy strategies to assess and reduce burnout among APs, and support continuous process improvement. This series of articles in the Journal of the Advanced Practitioner in Oncology provides data describing the growing role of the AP along with recommendations to further advance the profession and improve patient care.