Dr. Penny Kaye Jensen currently serves as President of the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners (2010-2012). Dr. Jensen is a board-certified Family Nurse Practitioner and has practiced at the George E. Wahlen Veteran Affairs Medical Center in Salt Lake City, Utah for the past 17 years.  She received her Bachelor’s degree in nursing from Westminster College in 1987. She then obtained her Master's degree in 1997 from Brigham Young University and her Doctorate in Nursing Practice (DNP) from the University of Utah in 2009. Dr. Jensen was in the first cohort of DNP students in the College of Nursing and one of the first students to be a University of Utah Hartford Center of Geriatric Nursing Excellence Scholar. 

She has functioned as a nurse practitioner in the primary care setting for over 13 years. She currently practices at the West Salt Lake Community Based Outpatient Clinic (CBOC).  She was appointed to the United States of Veterans Affairs, Office of Academic Affiliations Primary Care Medical Home Academic Subcommittee to establish guidelines for VA Centers of Excellence in Primary Care Education that will foster the transformation of clinical education by preparing graduates of health professional schools and programs to work in and lead patient-centered interprofessional teams providing coordinated longitudinal care. Dr. Jensen is also an Assistant Professor (Clinical) at the University Of Utah. She speaks routinely on the subjects of health care reform, access to care, professional issues, and health policy and politics.  Dr. Jensen was asked to brief a panel of U.S. congressional officials on the Primary Care Role of Nurse Practitioners in May of 2009.  She has participated in the development of several position papers and white papers on various health care and professional topics.

Dr. Jensen was one of seven nurse practitioners chosen to staff the Main Media Center Medical Clinic during the 2002 Winter Olympic Games held in Salt Lake City, Utah.  This was the first time NPs were utilized as providers in Olympic history. This decision resulted from Dr. Jensen’s presentation of evidence-based practice outcomes to International Olympic Game Officials.  She was the recipient of the AANP 2003 Utah State Award for Excellence. She received the University of Utah College of Nursing Excellence in Clinical Practice award in 2004, the Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing Excellence in Leadership Award in 2008, and was awarded the 2009 Outstanding Doctor of Nursing Practice from the University of Utah.  In June 2006 Dr. Jensen was inducted as a Fellow of the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners.