Updates to the Nurse Practice Act/Rules, Professional Boundaries, and Drug-Seeking Behaviors

All times listed in Central Time (US & Canada).
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Saturday, August 6, 2016

• 7:00am - 8:00am

  Registration and Breakfast

• 8:00am - 8:20am

  Welcome

  Dr. Katherine Darling DNP, APRN, PMHNP-C, FNP-C, FAANP President of the Arkansas Nurse Practitioner Association

  Dr. Darling, APRN, has been a clinician for over 15 years in family practice as a Family Nurse Practitioner. As a Psychiatric NP, she has practiced in acute inpatient psychiatric hospitals, has provided comprehensive outpatient psychiatric services to those with serious and chronic mental illness. As a mental health provider, Dr. Katherine Darling, APRN, performs psychiatric evaluations and assessments, identification of mental disorders, the creation of individualized treatment plans, medication management, and health monitoring.

• 8:20am - 9:20am

  KEYNOTE SPEAKER ~ Health Policy in 2016

  Sophia L. Thomas, MN, APRN, FNP-BC, PPCNP-BC, FNAP, FAANP Past AANP Region 6 Director

  Sophia L. Thomas, APRN, FNP-BC, PNP-BC, FAANP, is a nurse practitioner in New Orleans, Louisiana. Ms. Thomas received her Master’s Degree in Nursing in 1996 from Louisiana State University Medical Center in New Orleans. She holds three national certifications as a Nurse Practitioner, as she is dual certified in Family Practice by the American Association of Nurse Practitioners (AANP) as well as the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) and holds her third certification as a Pediatric Nurse Practitioner by the ANCC.

  Throughout her 17-year career, Ms. Thomas has maintained a full-time clinical practice and has dedicated herself toward increasing the access to quality health care for the medically underserved citizens of Louisiana as well as serving her profession by lobbying for legislation and policies that allow nurse practitioners to practice within their full scope without barriers. She has served on numerous professional committees, has been a speaker and consultant, and has held many elected offices for both the AANP and the Louisiana Association of Nurse Practitioners (LANP). She is the Past Region 6 Director for the AANP and is the immediate Past President of the LANP. A member of the Louisiana State Board of Nursing APRN Task Force, she has been actively involved in legislation to remove barriers to nurse practitioner practice and increase access to care for patients.

  Ms. Thomas was recognized by the AANP with the State Award for Excellence in Nurse Practitioner Clinical Practice in 2009, and awarded its Leadership Fellowship in 2000 and 2009. She was inducted as a Fellow in the prestigious Fellows of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners in 2012. She serves as a nurse practitioner clinical preceptor for five universities. An active member of the AANP, she also serves as a reviewer for the Journal of the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners. Ms. Thomas has been a spokesperson for the nurse practitioner profession in publications, television, and radio, most notably appearing in Money Magazine and on “NBC News with Brian Williams.”

• 9:20am - 9:30am

  BREAK

• 9:30am - 10:30am

  Assessing Risk Factors and CHD Symptoms in Women

  Jean McSweeney, PhD, RN, FAHA, FAAN

  Dr. Jean McSweeney has conducted both qualitative and quantitative research for over 20 years with interdisciplinary teams and with culturally diverse women with heart disease. She has served as a PI on numerous grants and have been funded by NINR, the Veteran’s Administration, and the American Herat Association. Dr. McSweeney has a long standing history of interdisciplinary research collaboration and of mentoring junior investigators through the NINR funded P20 Center that she directed at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) College of Nursing and through her position as the Associate Dean for Research. Her research collaborations have involved recruiting subjects of all age groups (pediatrics to geriatrics) with various illnesses (heart disease, schizophrenia, drug abusers) and healthy individuals from various ethnicities and races. Dr. McSweeney has published a manuscript based on her studies about successful recruitment and retention strategies for longitudinal studies. She has led the development of the UAMS Cardiovascular Patient Research Registry and worked closely with clinicians, researchers, and patients. Dr. McSweeney has assisted in developing recruitment plans and assisted in modifying plans to achieve accrual goals for various studies.

• 10:30am - 10:40am

  BREAK

• 10:40am - 12:00pm

  Updates to the Nurse Practice Act/Rules, Professional Boundaries, and Drug-Seeking Behaviors

  Sue Tedford, MNSc, APRN Arkansas State Board of Nursing Executive Director

  Mrs. Sue Tedford, MNSc, APRN, received her Masters of Nursing Science from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in 1989. She has been employed with the Arkansas State Board of Nursing since 2002 and accepted the position of Executive Director in July of 2010. She assures that the Board responsibilities; defined by statute, rules, and policies; are carried out, as well as assuring that policies, procedures, processes, equipment, and documents are in place to ensure effective agency functioning Mrs. Tedford administers activities related to financial affairs of the Board, including preparation and administration of the budget, the establishment and maintenance of a system for collection of fees, as well as the implementation of State policies in disbursements, payroll and purchasing. She administers activities related to nursing practice, including development and implementation of minimum standards of acceptable and prevailing safe practice, and interpretation of nursing scope of practice, along with activities related to disciplinary investigations and proceedings, including the conduct of disciplinary hearings and the prosecution of persons violating the current Nurse Practice Act. In 2010 Mrs. Tedford received the Exceptional Contribution award by the National Council of State Boards of Nursing and received the Nurse of the Year award from the Arkansas Nurses Association in 2003. She currently serves as President of the Arkansas Center for Nursing, Executive Committee Treasurer for the Nurse Licensure Compact Administrator, and is on the Executive Board for the Arkansas Action Coalition and Co-Chairs the Workforce Pillar. Mrs. Tedford has served on numerous other committees over her professional career.

• 12:00pm - 1:00pm

  LUNCH

• 1:00pm - 2:40pm

  Updates to the Nurse Practice Act/Rules, Professional Boundaries, and Drug-Seeking Behaviors (cont)

  Sue Tedford, MNSc, APRN Arkansas State Board of Nursing Executive Director

• 2:40pm - 2:50pm

  BREAK

• 2:50pm - 3:50pm

  Business Meeting