UAMS College of Nursing’s Paniagua Inducted as Fellow
| LITTLE ROCK – A nurse practitioner in the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) College of Nursing is the first in the state chosen to be inducted as a 2010 Fellow of the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners (FAANP).
Carmen T. Paniagua, Ed.D., R.N., clinical associate professor and specialty coordinator for the Adult Acute Care Nurse Practitioner Program in the College of Nursing, was one of just 44 nationwide inducted during the American Academy of Nurse Practitioner’s (AANP) 25th national conference June 23 in Phoenix.
“I am honored to be selected and look forward to participating in the significant work the AANP does for all aspects of the nurse practitioner role,” Paniagua said. “My involvement will allow me to assist the students in the graduate nursing program to stay apprised of the work being done by their professional organization to maintain excellence in the delivery of health care.”
Established in 2000, the FAANP program recognizes nurse practitioner (NP) leaders who have made outstanding contributions to health care through clinical practice, research, education or policy. Priority initiatives of FAANP are the development of leadership and mentorship programs for nurse practitioners and students. Fellows hold an annual think tank to strategize about the future of nurse practitioners and health care.
Paniagua practices in the Emergency Department at UAMS, in addition to providing health care service to the Hispanic community in Little Rock. In addition to being the first nurse practitioner in the state of Arkansas to be inducted as a FAANP, she is the only advanced nurse practitioner in genetics certified in the state and the only doctorally prepared Hispanic nurse in the state.
A limited number of nurse practitioners are selected for this coveted distinction each year. The AANP was founded in 1985 and is the oldest, largest and only full-service national professional organization for nurse practitioners of all specialties. It has more than 27,500 individual members and 131 group members and represents the interests of 135,000 nurse practitioners nationwide.
UAMS is the state’s only comprehensive academic health center, with colleges of Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, Health Related Professions and Public Health; a graduate school; a 540,000-square-foot hospital; six centers of excellence and a statewide network of regional centers. UAMS has 2,775 students and 748 medical residents. Its centers of excellence include the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute, the Jackson T. Stephens Spine & Neurosciences Institute, the Myeloma Institute for Research and Therapy, the Harvey & Bernice Jones Eye Institute, the Psychiatric Research Institute and the Donald W. Reynolds Institute on Aging. It is the state’s largest public employer with more than 10,000 employees, including nearly 1,150 physicians who provide medical care to patients at UAMS, Arkansas Children’s Hospital, the VA Medical Center and UAMS’ Area Health Education Centers throughout the state. Visit www.uams.edu or uamshealth.com.