Colleen Walsh-Irwin, DNP, RN, ANP-BC, AACC, EBP-C, FAANP
Candidate for New York South State Liaison
Campaign Message:
Please vote for me! It would truly be my honor to represent my colleagues as the New York State (South) Liaison. I promise to do my best to advance our practice and advocate for the issues that you think need to be brought forward. Thank you!
Current Professional Position
Associate Director, Evidence-Based Practice
Leadership Experience in the Past Three Years
- Associate Director, Evidence-Based Practice Office of Nursing Services, Veterans Affairs Central Office
- Co-Chair Cardiovascular Specialty Practice Group
- AANP Chair, AANP Fall Conference 2023
- Certificate of Specialization in Leadership and Management Harvard Business School Online
- Nurse Practitioner Association of Long Island Past-President 2020
Biggest Challenge Facing Nurse Practitioners and How AANP Can Help
I believe one of the biggest issues facing NPs in the delivery of health care over the next decade is dealing with the social determinants of health. We as a profession need to be aware how the economic and social aspects of a person impacts their overall health. I think AANP can help promote this message so we can move away from how we have tried to treat patients as though these issues did not impact their disease processes. Understanding that we cannot treat all patients the same without assessing their social and economic issues is extremely important to improve outcomes for our patients long term.
Example of Initiative or Outcome of Leadership
I have been a supervisor of my department in the past as well as held board positions on private organizations. As part of the Parent Teacher Association (PTA) board of directors for my children's school, I successfully raised over $10,000 for the PTA. During my tenure as President of the Board of Directors for a Veterans Affairs Day Care Center, I ran very successful fundraisers to buy new playground equipment. As President of the Nurse Practitioner Association of Long Island (New York State Nurse Practitioner Association, Region 7), I was able to increase our membership by coming up with novel ways to increase the numbers such as holding a membership drive that was different than the organization had previously done.
If Elected, I Propose to Advance the AANP Mission as Follows
As an AANP State Liaison, I think I will be able to help to increase our membership base. I am in an area where we have a lot of NP schools and a very large healthcare network. Because of the pandemic, it has been difficult to network and visit places where we can get NPs to join this amazing organization. I would be really excited if I was state liaison to go these schools, health care institutions and some of the conferences not affiliated with AANP that NPs attend. The other issue I would like to advance is to continue to increase the diversity of our organization and the reach. It is very exciting the way this work has already grown in our organization and I would like to see that continue.