2021 Fellows of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners Election Results
AUSTIN, TEXAS — Today, the Fellows of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners (FAANP) announce the official results of the 2021 FAANP election. Effective July 1, the newly elected FAANP officers and committee members are:
Chair-elect
Penny Kaye Jensen, DNP, FNP-C, FAAN, FAANP, chief consultant for advanced practice registered nurse (APRN) practice for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) in Washington, D.C., serves as the National APRN Health Policy Liaison, implementing modernized APRN practice throughout the VA in 2020. She began her career with the VA in 1994 and practiced for 22 years as a nurse practitioner (NP) in outpatient primary care clinics at the Salt Lake City VA. Career accomplishments include her role in securing NPs as providers during the 2002 Olympics, participating in the unveiling of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and serving as the only NP member of Joining Forces, which rallied support for veterans and their families. Since joining the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners in 1997, Jensen has represented the association as a member of the board of directors, serving as president-elect, president and immediate past president from 2009 to 2013 and serving as a Region 8 Director from 2004 to 2010. Notably, while president, Jensen was instrumental in the merger between the Academy and the American College of Nurse Practitioners to form the American Association of Nurse Practitioners® (AANP) in 2013. Beginning with her FAANP induction in 2006, Jensen has served in numerous capacities as a Fellow, including as an abstract reviewer, member of the FAANP Meet and Greet Committee, mentor in the FAANP Mentorship Program and member of the FAANP Induction Committee. She was invited to lend her expertise as an attendee at FAANP Think Tanks (Fellows Research Agenda, Ethics Policy Development, Strategic Planning) and co-designed the Fellows Medallion. In 2017, she was honored as the recipient of the FAANP Loretta Ford Award. Jensen has volunteered her time to serve on the AANP Political Action Committee (chair), Health Policy Conference Committee, Membership Committee, Bridge to NP Practice Committee and on multiple, annual national conference planning committees. She was an AANP Foundation FAANP Circle of Giving Donor and has served on the editorial board of the Journal of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners (JAANP) since 2013. Jensen is a clinical expert; well-respected NP, educator and presenter; and a renowned leader. In her role as chair-elect, Jensen will build a positive synergy to leverage the accomplishments of the FAANP program to strategically advance the program.
Treasurer
(Incumbent) Jamille Nagtalon-Ramos, EdD, MSN, WHNP-BC, IBCLC, FAANP, an assistant professor of nursing at Rutgers University with more than 17 years of teaching experience, is board certified as a women’s health NP (WHNP) and works in Camden, New Jersey. Her research interests have been fueled by her clinical expertise in women’s health and her cultural roots. She is passionate about exploring the Filipino American experience and investigating sexual reproductive health disparities. In 2003, she pioneered the development of the WHNP hospitalist role at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. Inducted in 2019, Nagtalon-Ramos’s FAANP involvement began with her participation in the Region 2 Leadership Meeting and continued as FAANP Treasurer in 2020. She was an AANP Policy Fellow in 2010. Other volunteerism efforts include serving from 2010 to 2018 on the board of directors for Nurse Practitioners in Women’s Health. She is the co-editor of the Midwifery and Women’s Health Care Nurse Practitioner Certification Review Guide and author of the award-winning book “Maternal Newborn Nursing: Best Evidence-Based Practices.” As treasurer, Nagtalon-Ramos will continue her work as an active, forward-thinking leader to provide a diverse perspective informed by her experience, expertise and research.
Member-at-Large
Elda Ramirez, PhD, RN, FNP-BC, FAANP, FAEN, FAAN, is an assistant dean for Diversity Equity and Inclusion at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) Cizik School of Nursing in Houston, Texas. Her practice focus has been in the emergency department, where she pioneered the role of the NP in emergency care. Her innovative clinical methodologies have influenced clinical practice for NPs internationally and, in 2013, she founded the American Academy of Emergency Nurse Practitioners. The basis of her research in defining emergency NP (ENP) competencies was the foundation for the ENP certification examination by the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners Certification Board (AANPCB). Inducted into the FAANP program in 2006, Ramirez has participated in various work groups related to mentorship, new AANP Fellow orientation and conference content, and she has served as an abstract, scholarship and grants reviewer. Ramirez is a consistent volunteer and contributor to AANP, FAANP and AANPCB and, as member-at-large, will listen without bias and will continue efforts to champion diversity, equity and inclusion.
Nomination Committee Member
Kate Elizabeth Gawlik, DNP, RN, APRN-CNP, FAANP, is an assistant professor of clinical nursing and the director of undergraduate health and wellness academic programming at the Ohio State University (OSU). Board certified as an adult NP and family NP (FNP), her expertise is in the cardiovascular population and preventive health. She has taught a variety of undergraduate and graduate nursing courses and serves as a clinical preceptor for advanced practice nursing students. She is the co-editor of the textbook “Evidence-Based Physical Examination: Best Practices for Health and Wellbeing Assessment.” For the past five years, Gawlik has served as the project manager for Million Hearts® initiatives at the OSU College of Nursing, where she was awarded the 2013 Outstanding Faculty Award and the 2017 Outstanding Leadership/Transformer Award. Her Million Hearts involvement includes the design of an educational module that led to the screening and education of more than 58,000 people nationwide. Gawlik was inducted into the FAANP program in 2018 and participates as a reviewer for presentation abstracts and as a speaker at AANP conferences. In 2018, she received the AANP State Award for Excellence. Gawlik’s involvement in committees and work groups at the local, state and national levels provides the experience needed to review admissions, awards, abstracts, scholarships and faculty candidates. As a member of the FAANP Nomination Committee, Gawlik is committed to discovering new leaders, recognizing seasoned experts and maintaining the high standard of FAANP.
Selection Committee Members
(Incumbent) Terri Lynn Allison, DNP, ACNP-BC, FAANP, is an associate professor of nursing and director of the Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) program at Vanderbilt University School of Nursing in Tennessee. As an acute care NP, Allison maintains a practice with the Vanderbilt Heart Transplant program. Her expertise in the care of patients with critical illness and cardiovascular disease, in particular with transplant recipients, provides the background for her to lecture nationally on cardiovascular topics. Allison was instrumental in the development of the DNP program at Vanderbilt and regularly consults and presents on issues about DNP education. Inducted into the FAANP program in 2014, she has participated in AANP conferences as an abstract reviewer for podium and poster presentations and has served as a reviewer for other national NP associations of which she is a member. As a second-term FAANP Selection Committee member, Allison has a clear understanding of the criteria used to recognize and select AANP Fellows whose impactful NP practice makes a positive difference in health care delivery.
(Incumbent) Kahlil A. Demonbreun, DNP, RNC-OB, WHNP-BC, ANP-BC, FAANP, FAAN, is a practicing WHNP and women's health medical director at the Columbia VA Health Care Center. An internationally recognized pioneer and role model, he is devoted to improving the health of women and mentoring those underrepresented in the area of women’s health by his contributions to care delivery, policy formation and regulation, organizational leadership, advisory roles, volunteering and preceptorship. His efforts positively increase the visibility of the NP role, for which he has received numerous accolades, including: Fellow in the American Academy of Nursing (AAN), first male WHNP to receive a DNP degree in the United States, AANP State Award for Excellence, Nurse Practitioners in Women’s Health Inspiration Award for Clinical Practice, America's Top Nurse Practitioner Award in Woman's Health, University of South Carolina College of Nursing Outstanding Alumnus Award, Sigma Theta Tau Carol Collison Award for Excellence in Nursing Practice, South Carolina Palmetto Gold Award, South Carolina Area Health Education Consortium Preceptor of the Year Award and the Charleston Regional Business Journal Health Care Hero Award. He was inducted into the FAANP program in 2016 and has participated as a member of the Fellows Selection Committee and FAANP Mentoring Taskforce. He is the current AANP State Representative for South Carolina and serves on the AANP Health Policy Committee. In his third year on the FAANP Selection Committee, Demonbreun’s intention is to vet the best FAANP candidates.
(Incumbent) Vanessa Pomarico-Denino, EdD, APRN, FNP-BC, FAANP, is an APRN at the Northeast Medical Group in Connecticut, where she is the lead clinician for diversity, equity and inclusion for 140 offices throughout Connecticut, Rhode Island and New York. She is a senior lecturer with Fitzgerald Health Education Associates and teaches the NP Certification Exam Review and Advanced Practice Update, in addition to having several continuing education recordings for NPs. She was part-time faculty at Southern Connecticut State University for 19 years and served five of those years as the interim director of the FNP track. She is courtesy faculty for Quinnipiac University School of Nursing. A guest lecturer for many Connecticut NP, PA and medical schools, plus an author and a contributing author for several nursing textbooks, Pomarico-Denino served for many years on the advisory board of The Jim Collins Foundation, a transgender community nonprofit organization. She served as president of the Connecticut APRN Society, and it was during her tenure, through the combined efforts of a group of dedicated nursing leaders, that the bill for full practice authority was passed in the state. She later served as co-chair of the Society’s Health Policy Committee. She is a two-time past-president for the Mu Beta chapter of Sigma Theta Tau International. She has been honored with numerous awards, including the AANP State Award for Excellence, the Nightingale Award for Excellence in Nursing, the Yale-New Haven Hospital Advanced Practice Providers Award for Leadership and the All-In Award, in recognition of her efforts to educate clinicians and staff on the appropriate care of the LGBTQIA+ patient. Pomarico-Denino was inducted into the FAANP program in 2014, serves on the FAANP Mentorship Committee and has sponsored four Fellows since her induction. She is the current co-chair of the AANP Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Special Interest Group. In addition, Pomarico-Denino is a contributing author for several nursing textbooks, and she provides consultation to NPs while maintaining an established practice in internal medicine, women's health and LGBTQIA+ health care. Pomarico-Denino returns for a second term on the FAANP Selection Committee and believes it is her mission to increase visibility of the NP role.
The American Association of Nurse Practitioners (AANP) is the largest professional membership organization for nurse practitioners (NPs) of all specialties. It represents the interests of the more than 325,000 licensed NPs in the U.S. AANP provides legislative leadership at the local, state and national levels, advancing health policy; promoting excellence in practice, education and research; and establishing standards that best serve NP patients and other health care consumers. As The Voice of the Nurse Practitioner®, AANP represents the interests of NPs as providers of high-quality, cost-effective, comprehensive, patient-centered health care. For more information about AANP, visit aanp.org.
The Fellows of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners (FAANP) program was established in 2000 and is dedicated to the advancement of NPs and the high-quality health care they provide. Recognized as NP leaders who have made outstanding contributions to NP education, policy, clinical practice and research, AANP Fellows volunteer their expertise as reviewers, topical experts, committee members, journal contributors, mentors and more. FAANP strives to support AANP’s mission, develop NP leaders of the future and advance the NP role. Learn more at aanp.org/fellows.