Baldassari named BWFH's first Chief Advanced Practice Professional

Johanna Baldassari, MSN, RN, APRN-BC, FNP-C, has been named Chief Advanced Practice Professional at Brigham and Women’s Faulkner Hospital. Advanced Practice Professionals (NPs, PAs and CRNAs) are increasingly involved in expanded patient care, process improvement and education. In this newly created role, Baldassari will spearhead efforts to organize a shared governance model for the Advanced Practice Professionals in to order to help this group identify and achieve their goals.

As an undergraduate, Baldassari studied at Washington University in St. Louis. She then enrolled in Yale University’s master of science in Nursing program where she completed the Family Nurse Practitioner specialty. She began her career as a nurse practitioner at Boston Healthcare for the Homeless before coming to BWFH in 2006.

We’re an important part of the day to day operations of the hospital. We do so much of the direct patient care,” she says of the role of the Advanced Practice Professionals. “We’re accessible. We can easily respond if there is a change in patient status or if we need to come and speak with the family. We’re right here.”

In fact, nurse practitioners and other Advanced Practice Professionals are involved in all areas of patient care. “Here at BWFH, we round on patients daily, assess patients’ readiness for surgery in pre-op and provide expert consultation and peri-operative care. On the inpatient units, we act as the patient’s first responding clinician and work closely with the attending physicians to develop treatment plans for the patients to advance their care and see them through the discharge process,” explains Baldassari. “We communicate with patients and their families and update primary care physicians. We also communicate with nursing to implement treatment plans for our patients to recover.”  

In her new role, Baldassari hopes to be a voice for this important group of providers. “My job is to be an advocate for them in terms of what they need to rise to their highest professional level,” she says. “NPs, PAs and CRNAs are just coming into their full stride. Lots of hospitals are realizing that we are an untapped resource.”

In addition to her new role, Baldassari will continue in her clinical role as well as her role with Partners eCare as a Provider Builder. “I will be wearing lots of different hats. But that’s great. I am really looking forward to seeing where I can take this position,” she says.