Category Archives: Uncategorized

Piedmont Region Polo Social and Legislative Candidate Meet & Greet

Come join us for an afternoon of polo, food and wine.

Local legislative candidates have been invited.
This fall all 40 seats in the Senate and 100 seats in the House of Delegates will be up for election in Virginia. VCNP’s Government Relations committee is continuing to promote NP practice by reaching out to legislators and candidates. We have invited candidates from our local districts to this event. Please take this opportunity to discuss the importance of NP practice. Talking points will be sent out below.

The following candidates have RSVP’d yes to attending the event.

Steve Harvey (R)- Candidate for 55th district
Amy Laufer (D) – Candidate for 55th district

Katrina Callsen (D) – Candidate for 54th district (her campaign manager Pally Haling is a retired NP!)

Senator Creigh Deeds (D) – 11th District
Phillip Hamiliton (R) – Candidate for 11th District

Bring your family.
Invite your colleagues/NP friends (members/non-members)

Sunday, September 24, 2023
12:00 pm – 4:00 pm
King Family Vineyards
6550 Roseland Farm, Crozet, VA

Talking Points

Current landscape and challenges

  • NPs are advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs) who have master of science and often doctoral degrees as well as extensive clinical training in the diagnosis, treatment and management of common and complex medical conditions.
  • NP-provided care has been shown to have outcomes equal to care provided by physician colleagues.
  • There are 15,000+ NPs currently providing care in Virginia. NPs practice in many settings including hospitals, primary care and specialty offices, health departments, extended care facilities, urgent care and free mobile health clinics.
  • Virginia’s NPs are governed by the Joint Boards of Nursing and Medicine. Virginia is one of only three states with Joint Boards. NPs in other states are governed solely by the Board of Nursing.
  • Unique to Virginia, NPs are restricted by a mandated practice agreement with a physician for 5 years before they are eligible to apply for autonomous practice licensure and practice without a practice agreement.
  • Mandated practice agreements with physicians do not involve training from physicians, are not residencies or fellowships, and do not require the physician to practice in the same location as the NP.
    Why these issues need to be addressed now
  • Virginia’s transition to practice requirement is the most restrictive in the nation. Twenty-seven states, the District of Columbia and two U.S. territories do not require any transition to practice or practice agreement. Of the states with such requirements, the requirement is 2 or 3 years, or 2,000-3,000 clinical hours.
  • Virginia’s mandated practice agreement requirement ties NP practice to a specific physician and healthcare setting. This impedes an NP’s ability to provide care where it is most needed, especially in rural and underserved areas where physician shortages are even greater than in urban areas.
  • Changing Virginia’s transition to practice requirement aligns the Commonwealth with the majority of states, the Virginia Board of Nursing’s recommendation and the National Consensus Model for Advanced Practice Nursing Licensure, which recommends that all APRNs are granted full practice authority upon graduation of an accredited program. The national model also recommends regulating APRNs solely under the Board of Nursing.
  • Virginia’s 5-year transition to practice requirement was passed in 2018. There have been significant changes in health care since that time including increasing provider shortages, a growing aging population and a greater number of patients with chronic diseases.
  • Nearly 100 million Americans currently lack adequate access to primary care. By 2030, it is estimated the U.S. will face shortages of more than 120,000 providers needed to address patient demand. NPs can help fill the gap to provide this care.

VCNP Piedmont Region CEU Event

Transforming Leadership
2 Hour CEU Event


Learn what is holding you back from reaching your professional and personal goals.
Understand that you are a leader even if you don’t have a leader role.
See how your superpowers are also your kryptonite.
Define leadership and what is means to you.
Learn to live life intentionally rather than by default.
Make friends with your Imposter, buckling him/her in the backseat, right next to fear.

Pam Maxson, PhD, PCC, SPHR, Executive and Leadership Coach

Tuesday, June 20, 2023
6:00 pm – 8:00 pm
The Center at Belvedere
Learning Center A
540 Belvedere Boulevard, Charlottesville, VA 22901

Dinner will be provided

RSVP by 6/18/2023 to Renee Gay at reg4x@uvahealth.org





Shenandoah Region Updates

Current membership count: 65

Erin Morris has stepped down as president. She will continue to serve as treasurer.

Thank you, Erin, for your many years of service!

Haley Tusing is the new president.

Josh Carlison has agreed to join the Goverment Relations committee.

We have committee positions available in Education and Nominations/Awards.

We had a social meeting in April at Taste of Thai.

Prior to the meeting we conducted a membership survey, here are some of the results:

What are you hoping to gain from your membership?
 Networking/meet other NPs in the area.
 Networking
 CME and networking.
 networking, news on legislation and policy changes/updates
 Social time with other NPs
 Making connections
 Collaboration and local support between NPs. Resources for practice. Friendship
 Connection with other NPs, some CME
 Networking with other NPs in the state
 A chance to get to know other NPs in the area
 Networking
 Networking

What type of meetings would you prefer?
 Social and CME
 Social and broader CME applicable to those in specialty practice also
 CME
 mix of social and CME
 All of the above
 Social and cme
 All of these sound great
 Social, CME
 Social, pharmaceutical
 I strongly oppose pharmacy rep dinners, and intentionally do not attend them. Any others are
great!
 Variety is good.
 Social or CME

What types of community events would you like to see the VCNP participate?
 Races, holidays, local college nursing programs
 5k
 Maybe volunteering with Blue Ridge free clinic.
 Community education (night, fair, ask an NP)
 Health fairs, school nutrition drives (filling backpacks, etc)
 Events that benefit local organizations

Do you have any suggestions for how to increase our regions membership and engagement?
 Vary meeting locations across the region
 Personally reaching out to NPs in our area
 Local nursing programs; area hospitals
 None sorry
 Maybe recruit JMU new grads
 Offer CME, more frequent wine/brewery network nights w/o CME.
 Emails, mail flyers, social media, community awareness
 Move meetings to other areas, generate regular communication regarding our region’s activity

Upcoming meeting on Thursday, June 15 6 pm on Cannabis Products.

Fredericksburg Region VCNP meeting minutes 8/11/22

Presentation by Scott Urquart, PA of Endocrinology Associates on Rybelsus- Role of endogenous GLP-1 in T2DM.

VCNP renewal time is here!

Discussion of next group event: Yoga in the park had a good turn out last year and we have 3 potential yoga instructors we could ask to host a class again this fall.

We have open positions for board members for Government Relations and Meetings/education.

Our organization donated to Madonna House, apartments for the elderly, after they suffered a devastating fire. We gave 5 gift cards to the organization collecting for the residents for $50 each.

Upcoming philanthropy invitation to Night of 1000 Pies to support Empower House, a local domestic violence shelter. This event is at Dr Rosemary O’Grady’s home 8/27/22 from 7-10pm. For our level of donation this year, we were given 4 tickets. Other individuals have tickets as well. Let Tiffany Simons know if you are interested in attending. There are also volunteer opportunities that evening to make sweet or savory pies for the event ahead of time, to help serve, help set up, or help with take down and clean-up.

For our past holiday winter meeting, we worked on assembling hygiene kits last year, which had a great turnout. Other suggestions were Oak Grove Baptist church food pantry/holiday donations of gift cards or gifts. We could assemble hygiene kits again, or are open to other suggestions.

submitted 8/14/22 JPSF

New nationwide crisis hotline

Beginning July 16, a new nationwide response system will be available for anyone experiencing a mental health, substance use or suicide crisis. The number for the new national suicide prevention and mental health crisis hotline is 988. Note that this number is not yet active in all parts of the country. Individuals can also call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255) or text “HOME” to 741741.

VCNP Richmond – June Dinner Meeting

Richmond VCNP

June Dinner Meeting

Sponsored by Paratek Pharmaceuticals

Nuzyra® (omadacycline)

Presented by Dino James Delaportas, MD

Mountainside Infectious Disease, LLC

 Thursday, June 9, 2022

(Registration opens at 5:30 p.m. and Presentation begins at 6 p.m.)

West Coast Provisions

301A Maltby Blvd, Henrico, VA 23221

Please RSVP by 06/03/2022

To register:

  1. Visit https://link.edgepilot.com/s/077f4e2a/9042eziqqkanUIT5r9-lWQ?u=http://www.paratekportal.com/registration
  2. Enter the event code: 1972

Noteworthy NPs

Congratulations to these VCNP members on their recent accomplishments!

Tidewater Region member Deborah Gray was selected from over 200 previous U.S. Fulbright faculty scholars and researchers who applied to serve as a U.S. Fulbright Alumni Ambassador. Dr. Gray served as a Fulbright Scholar in 2018 and worked with the University of Botswana and the World Health Organization to expand the number of NPs in Africa and patient access for nursing and midwifery services globally.

Deborah Gray

In an interview with WFXR-TV, Blue Ridge Region president Judy Jenks discussed how a new law taking effect July 1 will change the way people can access medical cannabis in Virginia.  

Judy Jenks

Lynchburg Region member Amy Johnson traveled to Peru in March with Virginia Tech’s VALOR leadership development program. During the two-year program, Amy visited all areas of the state to experience different aspects of the agriculture industry and meet with local, state and federal government officials to discuss policy. Amy’s doctoral work focused on farm safety and mental health concerns in farmers. She will graduate from the program in July.

Amy Johnson

Tidewater Region member Autumn Simmons received a grant from the City of Portsmouth through BBrands and Bloom Co-working for one year of rental assistance for her clinic’s office space. Autumn also received a grant through the Portsmouth Economic Development Authority for a 5K matching grant. Autumn owns Quickcare NP, an online healthcare provider.

Congratulations to the Health Wagon and its 7 NPs who treated double their average number of patients in 2021 and modified its core mission to make treatment of COVID-19 one of its four “pillars of care” along with medical, vision and dental. Southwest Region member Teresa Tyson is the Health Wagon’s president and CEO. Read more in the Bristol Herald Courier.

Teresa Tyson