Deadline to Submit Nominations for the 2013 CANP Awards Coming Dec. 15
Each year, the presentation of the CANP Awards is a traditional highlight of the Annual Educational Conference. Through the Bridging Health Care Needs and Nurse Practitioner of Distinction awards, noteworthy NPs earn much-deserved recognition from their peers.
CANP Award nominations are now being accepted. The deadline for submission of nominations is December 15, 2012. Both awards will be presented during the 36th Annual Educational Conference, taking place March 21-24, 2013 in Monterey.
The Nurse Practitioner of Distinction Award honors a CANP Member who has demonstrated excellence in furthering the nurse practitioner role through either legislative efforts or clinical application. The intent is to confer the highest recognition for an NP, to be recognized for excellence by their peers.
The 2012 award went to Jill Olmstead, former CANP President and current President of the American College of Nurse Practitioners (ACNP). Olmstead is certified as an Adult NP and has been practicing in gastroenterology for the past 15 years. Currently, she works at St. Jude Heritage Health Foundation performing screening and diagnostic flexible sigmoidoscopies, assessing, diagnosing, and managing pathology findings. She was honored not only in recognition of her stellar leadership qualities in her involvement with NP organizations and the medical community, but also for her commitment to mentoring many state and national leaders in the profession.
The Bridging Health Care Needs Award recognizes a Nurse Practitioner who is a catalyst for positive change in the health care system and who demonstrates the value of the care nurse practitioners provide to their patients.
In 2012, Sandra Bresnahan and Sigalit Marmorstein were named co-recipients of the Bridging Health Care Needs Award. In addition to her position as an Acute Care NP with the Veterans Administration Healthcare System in West Los Angeles, Bresnahan travels all over the world on volunteer medical missions with the Global Health force. She has used her nurse practitioner skills to serve rural villages and underserved urban populations in India, the Dominican Republic, Vietnam and Haiti. The award recognizes that she has selflessly volunteered her time and energies to local, national and international efforts, extending her clinical expertise as a nurse practitioner and limitless energy to caring for the underserved and disparate populations internationally and in the U.S.
Marmorstein is currently the Chief Nurse Practitioner for Emergency Room Services at Verdugo Hills Hospital. In 2003, she established an NP-run tier triage unit at the hospital that now serves more than 5,000 patients each year, many from vulnerable populations. As part of this endeavor, she established all policies, competency and training protocols, in the process taking great strides to advance the role of NPs. As a leader in advancing nurse practitioner education, she also serves as an adjunct faculty member at West Coast University in Irvine, where she has developed curriculum for several courses, while also mentoring and teaching nurse practitioner students through preceptorship programs she helped establish.
While any CANP member can submit nominations, each chapter is encouraged to nominate at least one person from their chapter for each award. Click here for further details, including downloadable nomination forms and detailed criteria for nominees.