By Terri Schmitt, PhD, APRN, FAANP, FNP-BC
Executive Director, NPACE
At NPACE, our mission continues to be clear, supporting Advanced Practice Providers (APPs) with education and information that strengthens clinical excellence and professional leadership. As healthcare evolves, so must our methods for connection and learning. The Friends of NPACE Podcast reflects this ongoing commitment in new ways with open access, national engagement, and ongoing purposeful design to bring forward-thinking conversations directly to APPs. I want to personally invite you to listen, engage, and continue leading at the top of your license. This is a project I am most proud of! Read on to learn more.
March marks the close of Q1, which for leadership is a natural point to pause and reflect. As I considered what one thing I wanted to most convey this March, it was another avenue for NPACE’s ongoing commitment to all APPs without membership or firewall. Our podcast.
I also realize though that the focus in my clinical practice differs from my leadership hat. March for clinicians represents a time when there is hope that the demands of winter illness and the confusion for patients in new insurance plans begins to clear. For many APPs March is also a time when the pace of practice can feel relentless. Clinical seems to be a never-ending cycle of complex patients, documentation demands, evolving technology, and continued new evidence emerging faster than most of us can absorb.
Clinical excellence today requires more than experience. It requires staying informed … consistently. Across healthcare disciplines, research demonstrates that clinicians who engage in ongoing professional development show stronger adherence to evidence-based guidelines, improved diagnostic accuracy, and better patient outcomes. Studies in continuing professional education link regular knowledge updating to higher quality metrics and safer prescribing practices. In short, when clinicians stay current, patients benefit. Staying informed doesn’t always mean another slide deck though, it can be as simple as pressing play.
Season 3 of the Friends of NPACE Podcast
The Friends of NPACE Podcast was created with one goal: to bring meaningful, real-world conversations to APPs without a firewall or membership fees. Now in Season 3, our amazing conversations with all sorts of clinicians, and clinician adjacent helping professionals, are expanding beyond traditional continuing education and into the broader realities of modern practice.
Entrepreneurship & Practice Ownership: Our Entrepreneur Mini-Series brought together experts from across the country to share practical guidance on starting and sustaining NP-led practices. From legal structure and marketing strategy to mindset barriers, these episodes addressed questions many APPs consider. Like, what are the real-world risks and rewards? And how do I find resources to help me navigate business ownership? The five-part episode series held some of the brightest minds in practice ownership. Check them all out on the NPACE YouTube channel or at Apple or Spotify podcasts.
Shaping APP Professional Literature: In partnership with Springer Publishing, we welcomed Dr. Mimi Secor and Dr. Karen Myrick to discuss becoming an APP author and translating clinical expertise into published scholarship. The tips and advice they gave was noteworthy, but the clinical pearls near the end of the show had me howling with laughter and a shared understanding of just what clinical is like at times. It matters because publishing shapes practice standards.
To hear the episode find it on YouTube here.
Clinical Innovation in Practice: At the Friends of NPACE Podcast we are constantly presenting new clinical information or speaking with clinical innovators. One episode so far in season 3 I am particularly fond of is an exploration in integrative pain management with Dr. Heather Jackson, FNP from Vanderbilt University. As chronic pain management continues to evolve, particularly amid concerns about long-term opioid use, information on options for enhancement of pain control or adjunct therapy is vital to patient discussions. Evidence-informed integrative therapies are a real option for patients. Check out more here.
Why Engagement Matters
Healthcare is constantly changing. Reliable sources for information are ever more important as guidelines shift, practice scopes expand, and reimbursement changes. As access to information for patients expands, some good and some questionable, more patients arrive informed and expect the same from us.
The Friends of NPACE Podcast is built on this. We get to have the best real-world discussions on current issues that affect your practice. Clinicians who engage in continuous learning demonstrate stronger clinical decision-making and improved patient satisfaction. Real conversations sharpen thought and practice.
As you look to the rest of 2026, I urge you to -press play with purpose. The Friends of NPACE Podcast represents real, engaging, sometimes humorous, and always accessible, high-level professional dialogue for APPs nationwide.
Ready to Listen?
Explore Season 3 of the Friends of NPACE Podcast today — available on all major platforms and at www.NPACE.org
Or find us specifically at our webpage here.
Press play.
Stay sharp.
Lead well.