More than 700 advanced practice providers attended the American College of Chest Physicians (CHEST) 2025 Annual Meeting in Chicago, IL, last month — a reflection of the growing presence of nurse practitioners (NPs), physician associates (PAs), and other members of the frontline care team in specialties such as pulmonary medicine. The CHEST 2025 meeting agenda reflected this trend, with plenty of sessions targeted to — and led by — members of the APP care team.

In an interview series with HCPLive during CHEST 2025, two thought leaders from the Association of Pulmonary Advanced Practice Providers (APAPP) shared perspective on the evolving pulmonary and critical care team, the role of NPs and PAs in managing patients, and the increasing opportunities to incorporate these specialists into collaborations and discussions being hosted at CHEST and beyond.

The featured experts are:

• Susan Corbridge, PhD, Chief Education Innovation Officer of the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN)
• Alanna Kavanugh, MSN, CCRN, Assistant Dean of Graduate Nursing at University of Mount Saint Vincent

Navigate the video slides above to hear Corbridge and Kavanaugh’s perspectives on topics including:

1. The Value of the First 5 Minutes in Pulmonary Care
2. Advanced Practitioners in Critical Care
3. NPs + PAs Growing in Presence and Role in Pulmonology
4. Including APPs throughout CHEST

Corbridge on the First 5 Minutes modules produced by CHEST:

CHEST did a listening tour during (the COVID-19 pandemic) in the areas that were most disproportionately impacted by COVID. And what they found was that patients had a lack of trust in their health care providers. So, CHEST did a really great job — and I was so fortunate to be able to be on the executive steering committee initially when that started — to develop a program that was focused on establishing trust within those first few critical minutes of patient interaction.

We know that patient trust and their health care providers can really impact patient outcomes — as well as when providers also have trusting relationships with their patients, they're much more engaged, it can decrease burnout, and really help with job satisfaction as well. We did very basic overview modules. Those are on the CHEST website. Those are great for anyone, especially new students that you have coming in. It's just really great for honing in on relationship-centered communication to increase patient trust.

Kavanaugh on the collaborative ICU care team:

I would be nowhere without my physician colleagues. They've mentored me and guided me through (my career). I had all this experience in the ICU as a nurse, but being a provider just adds a layer of complexity. And so really, without my MD colleagues, I wouldn't be where I am today. And they're long-lasting relationships and mentorships. We fall lovely into the care team, and we really have a place to improve patient outcomes, to reduce length of stay — and these are all measurable data that we've collected. And so, I think every ICU should have a nurse practitioner, a pharmacist, a respiratory therapist, everything. It's all part of the care team.

Kavanaugh on the benefit of increasing presence of advance practice providers:

What's unique about nurse practitioners and our APP colleagues across all disciplines is that we are literally everywhere. We're inpatient, we're outpatient, we're in the community, we're in the schools — we're touching patients where they live. I think the expertise that is there and the availability to allow for education, screening, direct patient contact, it really falls within the realm of what we're doing. If APPs are throughout the hospital system, I think there's a case for improved care, improved screening, improved outcomes. I think APPs are a great way to initiate navigator systems, close the loop on communication, and really engage patients to be almost a safety net within those healthcare systems.

Corbridge on introducing more specific trainings for NPs and PAs in pulmonary and critical care:

One of the new things that I was able to be on the steering committee for was the critical care exam for NPs and PAs that is coming out soon. It's the first of its like, and it's just a great opportunity for continued professional development. I'm looking forward to one from CHEST, specifically for pulmonary as well.

A lot of times, often in acute care nurse practitioner programs in particular, the programs are more general-based. But in acute care nurse practitioner programs, they might get some experience in critical care and they might not, because they aren't critical care programs. They're acute care programs. So, really focusing on critical care is just a great way for anybody in that space to work on professional development.