Nurse Practitioners Vote to Form New National Membership Organization

The American Academy of Nurse Practitioners and The American College of Nurse Practitioners will consolidate, creating The American Association of Nurse Practitioners

AUSTIN, Texas, Nov. 20, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The American Academy of Nurse Practitioners and the American College of Nurse Practitioners announced they are moving forward with plans to consolidate effective January 1, 2013. The combined organization will now be known as the American Association of Nurse Practitioners or AANP. With approximately 40,000 members, AANP will serve as the largest professional membership organization in the country for nurse practitioners of all specialties.

Leaders from both the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners and the American College of Nurse Practitioners will play key roles in governing the new organization.  As of November 19^th, David Hebert, who has been Chief Executive Officer of the American College of Nurse Practitioners, began serving as CEO of AANP.  Dr. Angela Golden, currently serving as President of the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners, will retain her position through June 2013.  Dr. Ken Miller, currently the American College of Nurse Practitioners' president-elect, will become the co-president with Dr. Golden at the AANP conference in June 2013.

The consolidation comes at a time when fewer physicians are pursuing primary care medicine and nurse practitioners are playing an increasingly critical role in providing access to high-quality primary, acute and specialty care. This is even more urgent with the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act moving forward, adding 30 million Americans to the rolls of the insured.

By consolidating, the new AANP will add a strong, unified voice to the growing movement working to ensure nurse practitioners can practice to their fullest potential, thus best serving patients and their families.

"The nurse practitioner community has made it clear that they support this alliance and share our vision for one entity that represents the very best of what we have to offer as health care providers," said Angela Golden, DNP, FNP-C, FAANP, current President of the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners. "Coming together better serves our members and benefits our patients who need nurse practitioners now more than ever."

"Today's health care environment demands more efficiency and innovation as we look to control costs and improve outcomes," said Jill Olmstead, MSN, NP-C, President of the American College of Nurse Practitioners. "This consolidation exemplifies how collaboration and future-forward thinking can bring about positive changes across the health care spectrum."

Click here for a full list of AANP board members, effective January 1, 2013.

Nurse practitioners are prepared at the graduate level, with master's degrees or doctorates, which enables them to provide many of the health care services typically associated with physicians. In addition to being expert clinicians, nurse practitioners also focus on health promotion and disease prevention, together with health education and counseling to guide patients in making smarter health and lifestyle choices.   

For more information about AANP, visit www.aanp.org.

For more information about ACNP, visit www.acnpweb.org.

SOURCE American Academy of Nurse Practitioners